On a perfect September spring day with No.1 Oval in Tamworth looking a picture the Tamworth Kangaroos took on the Inverell Saints. This was the fourth time in five seasons that these two had squared off in the final game of the year with the ledger being two wins to the Saints and one win to the Kangaroos.
The first quarter started with the Kangaroos Cam Douglas not taking long too get the ball out of the centre and converting for the Kangaroos first goal. Not to long after that his brother Mitch kicked his first goal quickly followed by another goal from Cam and it looked like it was going to be the Douglas Brothers show. The Saints finally kicked their first goal at the 14 minute mark of the quarter when Gary Hadland converted. It was about this time that the Kangaroos Captain/Coach Tim Cotter started to run riot picking up possessions at will. The Kangaroos fourth and final goal of the quarter came off the boot of veteran Dan Overeem, Overeem actually kicked two behinds for the quarter which the Kangaroos would have liked converted at the first break. When Mike Gould kicked the Saints second goal all of a sudden the Saints were back in it and when Hadland kicked his second goal for the quarter the Saints knew they were back in it. The Kangaroos a slender lead of just 9 points at quarter time.
The Saints regrouped at the first break and came out in the second quarter with their tails in the air and could do no wrong. The Kangaroos were on the back foot as the Saints peppered the goals close in and about 40 metres out but they only converted one shot and that was by the ever reliable Jono Elphick. All the while Cotter was again working hard to keep his team in the game. When the Kangaroos finally got the ball passed the middle of the ground it opened the flood gates for them when Mitch Douglas kicked his second goal of the game. This was followed by Gillies Medalist Matt Hodge kicking two goals and then young Lachlan Maloney bobbed up kicking two goals. This had the Kangaroos looking at a 26 point lead before Gould kicked a late goal for the Saints to reduce the margin to 20 points at half time.
The Kangaroos came out rejuvenated after half time and started as they did in the first quarter. Alex Hudson missed with their first shot on goal but Maloney quickly added to his goal tally when got his chance and not long after that Ryan Painter got in on the act with a long bomb and it looked like the Kangaroos were on a roll. Gould kicked his third goal of the game next to give the large Saints crowd something to cheer about but it didn't last long. Maloney kicked his fourth goal of the game followed by goals to Geordie Ackeroyd, Cam Douglas and Dan Overeem. Overeem by this time was wearing number 44 and his beloved number 2 jumper was torn off him. By this stage the Kangaroos were leading by 56 points until a goal to the Saints Joe Kimmince kicked a goal inside the last 90 seconds of the quarter. So the Kangaroos lead by 50 points at three quarter time and it looked like you could put down your glasses and give them the cup there and then.
However the Saints are a proud club and you can never take them lightly. They started the quarter with a long range shot from Joe Kimmince, who had been moved into the ruck, which just missed to the near side. Gould then bobbed up and kicked his fourth goal followed by Hadland's third goal and all of a sudden the Saints fans came alive with a bit of hope. But that hope was extinguished though when Overeem kicked his third goal of the game. The Saints continued to fight though and Captain Chris Whitton kicked his first goal of the game followed by Gould kicking his fifth goal. The Kangaroos Hodge kicked the last goal of the game before the ball finished in the hands of Cotter who took a mark about 30 metres out on a slight angle and was lining it up when the final siren sounded. Cotter missed the goal after the siren but it didn't matter as they had won by 38 points.
The Kangaroos had a number of good players all over the ground and Cotter nominated Lachlan Maloney as his best while the consensus up on the balcony was Matt Hodge was their best. But when the votes were in it was the Kangaroos Col Daye that was awarded the Graham Nuttal Mug for best on ground. The Saints best player was Jono Elphick with his drive out of their back line and it was a raffle out of Mike Gould, Joe Kimmince and Pete Dunlop as to who was their next best player.
Last Modified on 17/09/2011 22:07