The Box Hill Hawks and Williamstown will face off in the Development League Grand Final for the third consecutive season on Saturday.
Box Hill Hawks vs Williamstown
Saturday September 19
11.30am, North Port Oval
It’s a measure of the incredible depth at the Box Hill Hawks and Williamstown that the two Qualifying Final-winning clubs in the VFL are also facing off for the Development League premiership this week.
The pair of teams has won eight of the last 10 Development League premierships – with the Hawks in their eighth consecutive decider – and this will be their third straight Grand Final clash, with Williamstown emerging victorious by a golden point in 2013 and by 35 points last year.
Box Hill has been utterly dominant in 2015, however, and will be shooting for an undefeated season on Saturday. The Hawks excelled in all areas – clearly no.1 in the Development League in terms of points scored and points conceded – and finished the home-and-away season with a percentage of 236.5.
They’ll be facing the Seagulls for the third match in succession, having enjoyed wins in Round 20 (by 26 points) and in the Qualifying Final (20 points), both played at Box Hill City Oval.
Williamstown is coming off a strong 40-point victory over Coburg in last week’s Preliminary Final at North Port Oval, but had lost its previous four matches as it finished the home-and-away season with a record of 11-5.
The Seagulls also lost to Box Hill by 55 points in Round 10 at Burbank Oval, but the margins of their losses to this week’s opponent have decreased with each match-up, as has the amount of goals they’ve conceded.
On all levels of the organisation, the Hawks play a similar brand of high-possession, heavy-scoring football – and Williamstown will take heart from being able to restrict them to just 12 goals in the Qualifying Final.
There’s a bevy of players the Gulls will need to keep a watch on, but restricting Box Hill’s scoring starts with restricting its midfield brigade.
Ryan Exon, Sam Gibson and AFL-listed Hawks Jared Hardisty and Lachlan Langford have starred in the last two clashes with Williamstown. Stop those prime-movers controlling the ball and the Seagulls might have a chance of stopping goalkickers such as Chris Jones (25 Development League goals in 2015) and Aidan Franetic (25) hitting the scoreboard.
Williamstown isn’t short of talented players who could certainly be playing in the seniors, either. Ben Casley has booted eight goals in the last two weeks, while Sean Tighe, Anthony Anastasio and Sam Critchley have been playing in the Development League recently after regular senior football at times in 2015.
With dynamic smalls such as Jake Greiser, Sean Hetherington and Jacob Chisari as well, the Seagulls certainly have the mix to challenge the all-conquering Hawks.
History is on the line in this one: The opportunities to claim premiership three-peats (Williamstown) and undefeated seasons (Box Hill) don’t arise too often.
Tune to 94.1fm 3WBC for a live broadcast of the game Saturday from 11am
* Photo: Jenny Owens
Last Modified on 17/09/2015 12:26