By David Nagel
An imperial seal has been stamped on the magnificent season of Inverloch-Kongwak after the Sea Eagles claimed their eighth premiership in club history with a 35-point victory over Phillip Island in the WGFNC grand final at Kooweerup.
A team that conceded an average score of just 34 points this season was at its miserly best once again, restricting the Bulldogs to minimal opportunities in a 10.15.75 to 6.4.40 domination.
A crowd of approximately 5000 people crammed into Denhams Road hoping to see a repeat of the most recent contests between the two teams.
The Eagles and Doggies drew the final round of the home-and-away season, 56-56, before the eventual champs won a thrilling second semi-final by one point, 81-80.
But it became clear early that a dominant season – that saw the Sea Eagles finish two-and-a-half games clear at the top of the ladder – was being reinforced on football’s biggest stage.
Inverloch coach Tom Hams made two changes from the narrow win in the second semi, with Xavier Hughes and Will Turner making way for the height of Archer Reid and Clinton McCaughan.
Phillip Island had the first genuine opportunity after three minutes of play, with Jordy Patullo unable to adapt to a strong breeze blowing towards the outer side of the ground.
Patullo’s set shot missed the target completely, leaving Nick Baltas to open proceedings with a minor score with 10 minutes ticked by.
Taite Cumming kicked the first goal two minutes later, before Reid capped off some great teamwork with a strong mark and goal.
It’s been the little things that count for the Eagles this season, and a deft touch from McCaughan – who put the ball in the path of Ethan Park – was team football at its best.
The Bulldogs famous resilience was being tested for the first time, and when Oscar Toussaint opened up a 21-0 scoreline at quarter time…the alarm bells were ringing!
A fierce Baltas tackle on Kai Mackenzie sort of summed up the first quarter…one team was on, and one wasn’t.
Will Hams then put his trusty left foot to work, burying a classy set shot from roughly the same spot from where Patullo had missed the target, to kick the score out to 31-0.
The Bulldogs then found a miniscule amount of momentum for the first time, with Hayden Bruce allowing for the breeze perfectly at the other end.
Bruce then hit the post with another dangerous attack on goal, leaving the scores at 33-8 at the major break.
The Bulldogs were being comprehensively outplayed, but the Sea Eagles had left the door open despite having 13 shots to three.
The first goal of the third was always going to be critical, and when Will Hams capped off a passage of play – that progressed via three free kicks – the Sea Eagles were up and about and the Bulldogs more-and more frustrated.
The Doggies showed true grit in the third, and when Max Blake and Travis Woodfield kicked majors, the margin was a manageable 19 points, 17 minutes in.
Lachie Scott and McCaughan then delivered two telling blows, before Orlando Kane-Gillard gave the Bulldogs a glimmer of hope at three-quarter-time.
Now 27 points adrift, it was time to take the game on.
“They’ll be shitting themselves over there, because they know we’re coming…let’s run and overlap and take the game on,” said Bulldogs coach Cam Pedersen.
“Can you taste it,” was the message from Hams to his group.
The Bulldogs then kicked the first of the last quarter, via the right foot of Blake, to cut the margin to 21 points, with just two minutes gone on the clock.
The next goal would basically decide if the contest was still alive, and when Baltas kicked one of his specials – from the tight confines of a phone box – the Sea Eagles were home.
Will Hams then put the exclamation mark on a best-on-ground performance, leaving his brother/coach to ponder the greatest day of his football career.
“This is number one,” Tom said post-match.
“I’ve been blessed to have a good career, but it means a lot to coach a team and have ideas, that you think are good ideas at the start of the year, and develop them over the course of the year.
“To have a group that has bought in the way it has, is just special, it’s rewarding, and to win one with my brother, to have all my family here, with my mates…it’s hard to put in words.
“He (will) is just such a good player; he had a huge day today…and he did that with a torn calf.
“That makes his performance even better.”
Hams said while the scoreboard was always in his favour, he never felt entirely comfortable.
“Conditions were tricky today, that wind made it hard to score, but Phillip Island is such a proud club that they were always going to come…you’re never safe against Phillip Island,” he said.
“We just did what we’ve done all year, we just ground a team down and made it difficult to score.
“We took our opportunities when we had them, turning it into fast transition, and it was obviously nice to get the jump early and then control the game from there.
“As the game went on, the far boundary, with the wind blowing that way, becomes another player.”
Hams said the decision to drop Hughes and Turner, in favour of McCaughan and Reid, had been a difficult one.
“Heartbreaking, I like to think I’m a guy that is empathetic and likes to be liked, and it’s not easy making those decisions,” he said.
“We felt that in the conditions that height was something that we needed, so we made those calls and those guys took it like champions.
“It’s just showed the character of those guys that they understood why.
“It hurts, it knocked me around, it took me a day to recover…but it’s good they got medals in the reserves (Hughes) and under-18s (Turner) today as well.”
The winning coach then finally reflected on a rollercoaster ride this season.
“We didn’t have a coach in late November, but we stitch it back together, Pete Butcher (President) did a power of work, we got lucky with (assistant-coach) Leigh Cole, and we developed the group and had a dream run early,” he said.
“We didn’t have any injuries until round 11, then the last half of the year has been a challenge.
“It was a grind, we made seven changes for the second semi…but we got it right when it mattered.”
2023 WGFNC GRAND FINAL
INVERLOCH-KONGWAK 3.3 4.9 7.12 10.15(75)
PHILLIP ISLAND 0.0 1.2 4.3 6.4(40)
Inverloch-Kongwak Goals: Will Hams 3, Nicholas Baltas, Taite Cumming, Clinton McCaughan, Archer Reid, Lachlan Scott, Oscar Toussaint, Toby Mahoney. Best: Will Hams, Ethan Park, Dylan Clark, Andrew Soumilas, Nicholas Baltas, Shem Hawking.
Phillip Island Goals: Max Blake 2, Hayden Bruce, Orlando Kane Gillard, Travis Woodfield, Jordy Patullo. Best: Mark Griffin, Daniel Pearce, Jack Taylor, Billy Taylor, Damien Holmes, Max Blake.
Medal Winner: Will Hams – Inverloch-Kongwak.
