by Jim Gordon
The outstanding 2012 Walpeup Underbool side did a demolition job on Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers and are the Mallee Football League Premiers for the fourth time with a thumping 109 point win at Rainbow.
The Roos systematically tore the Tigers apart in a one-sided affair that saw them kick a match winning ten goals in the first term whilst holding the shell-shocked Tigers scoreless. Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers simply ran out of legs after a gruelling preliminary final win in a howling gale the week before against Hopetoun.
This was the first grand final that Jeparit Rainbow has hosted since the formation of the current Mallee Football League. It should have a been a great spectacle. Conditions were perfect with a light breeze favouring the northern end of the ground, the reserves game had been a cracker won in extra time by Walpeup Underbool and there was a large crowd in attendance paying $13,575. Unfortunately, at no stage in the afternoon did the sun shine for the Tigers.
Walpeup Underbool were too skilled, too strong and too quick in moving the ball around for a strangely flat Sea Lake Nandaly side that was never in the game right from the opening bounce. Walpeup Underbool gave the crowd an outstanding exhibition of high marking, precision kicking and play on football in a relentless display of all that is good in our great game.
The knockout blow came early in terms of the game, but late in the second quarter when the brilliant David Piasente scored three goals in the space of three minutes. The Roos were already travelling very comfortably when Piasente ran in from thirty metres to goal and was felled after he had kicked the ball and received another kick from the square. Trouble brewed after that second goal, Stephen Lyons was sent off and Piasente was gifted a third. There was no coming back for Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers from here.
It is difficult to name outstanding players for the Walpeup Underbool side as they had at least half of their side miles ahead of the nearest Tiger. Key Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers playmakers such as Col Durie, Stephen Lyons and Troy Ferrier when they did get the ball, were nowhere near as effective as they usually are.
Conversely the Roos had stars everywhere. Their defence was tight and mean, they won across the centre and had a dominant forward line that the Tigers could not contain. It was a wonderful all over the ground effort by the Roos.
Josh Charles had a great game for the Roos dominating in the ruck. Charles fed the ball to the Walpeup Underbool rovers all day, where David Piasente, Luke Nathan and Sam Macdonald to name but a few, were able to push the ball forward with regular monotony.
Walpeup Underbool were brilliant in the first term and took a 64 point lead into the first break, but it was in the second quarter that the fun began for the Roos. In this term the Tigers dropped a man back in an effort to block the Roos’ run. This did have the effect of drying up scoring opportunities for brief passages of time, but often it lead to a Walpeup Underbool player left to his own devices in their back half, or across the centre, and if a Roo got the ball the damage was swift and telling.
Joshua Stone did a lot of damage in this quarter. He roamed free across the centre and half forward and had a lot of time to use his pace and skill.
Time, and plenty of it was a factor all over the ground as the Tigers looked slow and loose. Early in this term Walpeup Underbool kicked out from full back after a rare Tiger score, Chris Lynch found Travis Latta from the kick out and Latta had so much time and space that he considered two different options before selecting a third. Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers were already looking lethargic and well off the pace.
At one time in that rampaging first term, Ryan Anderson, who started the game brilliantly, gathered the ball at half back and ran the length of the field bouncing the ball three times before slotting it through from 45m. No Tiger was anywhere near him at any stage.
Not long before Anderson’s solo effort, the Roos gave the fans on the clubrooms wing a display of their very best skills when they ran the ball out of the backline and around the flanks through a series of lightning quick handballs between Stone, Chris Chubb and Jim Wakefield before Chubb slotted it through from an angle. The Roos were all class.
The Walpeup Underbool backline led by Travis Latta and Jim Wakefield were well on top all day, spoiling and running the ball forward with ease. Every time the Roos pushed forward they looked dangerous with Kane Munro leading and jumping into contests and if he didn’t mark the ball, other Roos were there waiting and hungry to score.
Sea Lake tried to get a bit of respectability out of the final term, playing the style of footy that won them the preliminary final, but it was all a bit too late. Walpeup Underbool are worthy champions and a class above all other sides in the MFL this year.
Last Modified on 16/09/2012 13:10
