A Grand Final replay delivered a thrilling end to the 2008 AFL Mackay pre-season carnival last Saturday at Airlie Beach.
In blistering conditions, last year's AFL Mackay premiers, North Mackay Saints, and runners up the Whitsunday Sea-Eagles, dominated their individual pools in the round robin matches to be separated by just 0.7% on for-and-against percentage.
Last year's winners, the Hermit Park Tigers, also progressed through to the final rounds with an unbeaten performance.
The Moranbah Bulldogs could prove to be the surprise packets of the 2008 Manpower AFL Mackay premiership season, with an impressive performance which saw them only narrowly miss out on a finals berth.
North Mackay's finals aspirations went right down to the wire in the first semi-final. Trailing by a sizable margin to the Thuringowa Bulldogs at the half time break, super-coach Darren Gwynne rallied his team to pull off an amazing comeback to draw the match with a kick on the final siren, securing a spot in the Grand Final.
The Whitsunday Sea-Eagles showed ominous signs for the season ahead, with a gutsy display in the Grand Final, forced to play one man short due to a player being red-carded earlier in the day. With a clear advantage to their opponents, Whitsunday managed to match North Mackay on the scoreboard for the majority of the match.
The four-hundred plus spectators in attendance willed their home team on, but with the weight of numbers North Mackay drove home the advantage for a comfortable two goal win to reclaim the Mackay/Whitsunday Shield.
RESULTS:
Game
|
Winner
|
Loser
|
1
|
Whitsunday Sea Eagles
1.5.3 42
|
Eastern Swans
0.3.1 19
|
2
|
Thuringowa Bulldogs
0.3.3 21
|
Mackay City Hawks
1.1.3 18
|
3
|
Moranbah Bulldogs
0.5.6 36
|
Curra Swans
0.3.4 22
|
4
|
Whitsunday Sea Eagles
0.7.8 50
|
Bakers Creek Tigers
0.1.5 11
|
5
|
North Mackay Saints
1.4.2 35
|
Thuringowa Bulldogs
0.4.2 26
|
6
|
Hermit Park Tigers
2.4.5 53
|
Moranbah Bulldogs
1.2.4 25
|
7
|
Eastern Swans
0.2.4 16
|
Bakers Creek Tigers
0.1.9 15
|
8
|
North Mackay Saints
0.7.6 48
|
Mackay City Hawks
0.0.1 1
|
9
|
Hermit Park Tigers
1.5.4 43
|
Curra Swans
0.3.2 20
|
Pool One
|
Pool Two
|
Pool Three
|
6 - Whitsunday Sea Eagles (306.7%)
|
6 - North Mackay Saints (307.4%)
|
6 - Hermit Park Tigers
(213%)
|
4 - Eastern Swans (61%)
|
4 - Thuringowa Bulldogs
(89%)
|
4 - Moranbah Bulldogs (81%)
|
2 - Bakers Creek Tigers (39%)
|
2 - Mackay City Hawks (28%)
|
2 - Curra Swans (53%)
|
Final Series
Game
|
Winner
|
Loser
|
1st Semi
|
North Mackay Saints
0.5.2 32
(Highest on Aggregate)
|
Thuringowa Bulldogs
0.5.2 32
|
2nd Semi
|
Whitsunday Sea Eagles
0.6.3 39
|
Hermit Park Tigers
0.4.2 26
|
Grand Final
|
North Mackay Saints
0.6.8 44
|
Whitsunday Sea Eagles
0.5.1 31
|
Last Modified on 10/01/2009 18:17