TUGGERANONG v AINSLIE – 2009 ACTWAFL GRAND FINAL MATCH REPORT
Tuggeranong 1.0 2.2 2.2 2.3 (15)
Ainslie 1.1 1.2 2.2 2.2 (14)
Best: Ballerini, Jobson, Boxall, King, Syrek, Stevens, Colbert, Herbert.
Goals: Ghirardello, Bennett
The Tuggeranong Hawks have won their second grand final in three seasons, both by a point.
The 2009 ACTWAFL Grand Final was played under clear skies, a tricky gusting wind and a centre square reminiscent of the VFL grounds in the 1980s. AFL Canberra has cleared outlayed all of the finals gate receipts on the pre-game entertainment with loudspeakers blaring (Playing to Win CD available on ebay for $4.95).
Before the match Hawks coach Kim ‘Dicko’ Dickerson had told her team not to rely on their 4 or 5 stars and that the whole team needed to step up and commit to the one-percenters that would win them the contest.
The opening minutes of the match set the tone for the whole game with both team extremely willing in a tight physical but fair contest.
Ainslie were the first team on the board with a goal to Holly Cogle. The Hawks reply came after fantastic pressure from wiley veteran Doonz Puglisi who smothered the ball after Ainslie’s Sam Engel was called to play on with the ball falling to Kath Ghirardello who was taken high and kicked truly from the resultant free kick. At the quarter time siren Ainslie led by a point.
In the second term the Hawks started to get their running game going. As always the half back line of Mel Akers, Ange Ballerini and Bek Jobson were the proverbial brick wall. The Hawks on ball run gradually got on top and the Hawks forwards were first to the ball and battled hard to lock the ball in. This hardness set up Wendy Bennett’s goal after she converted with a set shot after a high tackle. Kath Ghirardello and Kerry Matthews both had opportunities to convert the Hawks pressure onto the scoreboard however both shots agonisingly hit the post. The Hawks had a one goal lead at half time.
Both teams were keen to get back into it in the second half. So much so that we had the bizarre situation of both teams lined up ready to go to start again – only one problem – there was still three minutes before recommencement and the umpires had yet to make their way back onto the Manuka ground.
When the game did re-start the Hawks lead evaporated in a heartbeat with a very classy 40 metre running goal from the boundary line from KD bring the Ainslie supporters to their feet. What happened after that was classic ACTWAFL Grand Final stuff.
Slowly but surely the Hawks again began to outrun their opponents with Buzz Hill, Amy Currie, Sherrie Syrek all prominent. The Hawks had the majority of the possession in their forward 50 however the Ainslie defence was resolute holding firm. Not to be out done the Hawks defence was absolutely superb when called upon. Ange was leading by example constantly rebounding from CHB. Katie King’s attack on the ball was at stages kamikaze like. And youngster Jess Lang playing in her first grand final took a goal saving mark right in the goal square late in the term to keep the scores level at three quarter time.
At the final change Dicko praised the team’s commitment to the contest and implored them to keep going for 20 minutes. Doonz was especially vocal at the break telling her team mates that they had worked too hard and trained too long to let it slip now* (family friendly website version of events).
The final term started well for the Hawks as they worked hard at the clearances to give their forwards a chance to kick that vital score. But half way through the term it looked like it might come to naught as the Hawks tiring and the Ainslie players long kicking coming to the fore resulting in a rare piece of clean play and a set shot from 40m. The ball fell short and the Hawks defence, knowing that any score now could be vital, refused to concede the behind and desperately cleared the ball away from the last line of defence.
The hero for the Hawks was Ange Ballerini, who continued to take match saving mark after matching saving mark, at one stage putting in a claim for mark of the year as well. Never has a crowd been so loud for an ACTWAFL decider.
By this stage it was starting to become clear that the old cliché chest nut of ‘next score wins’ was becoming a reality. The ball bounced around from half back lines with the two teams defences on top like they had been most of the day. The Hawks forward line pushed up the ground and CHF Kath Ghirardello continued to provide a target. One of her desperate kicks found the Hawks ruck Tia Stevens clear on the forward 50 line. Looking up she saw only Kez and her opponent and gave it everything she had. The ball just cleared the desperate Ainslie back which allowed Kez to run on and shepherd/sneak a toelace onto it as the ball went through for a behind. The crowd went wild as after about 40 minutes the deadlock was broken and with 2 minutes and 20 seconds left the Hawks were in front!
Despite a couple of nervy moments the ball never found its way back into the Ainslie forward 50 line and when Doonz marked the ball on the wing the celebrations were about to start. The siren signalled the typical grand final responses with the Hawks leaping around deliriously while the brave but shattered Ainslie players slumped to the ground.
The post match celebrations kicked off with a rousing version of the club song before the team was presented with the ACTWAFL Premiership trophy for the third time in six seasons. Skipper Ange Ballerini was a very deserving (and arguably overdue) recipient of the best on ground award (In this correspondent’s humble opinion it was a career best performance from Ange). Ange thanked Ainslie for the game before praising her team mates making mention of how close they are as a group. All that was left was for the trophy presentation to captain and coach, Dicko becoming the first female premiership coach of the Hawks and the first person in the ACTWAFL to win premierships as a player (twice) and non-playing coach.
After the match Dicko described the game as ‘intense’ and that in the final term her ‘heart rate was right up there’. When asked about Ange’s game – ‘Phenomenal, in a league of her own. I’d pay $5 to come and watch Ange play footy any day.
When asked about her own game a typically self depreciating Ange described her performance as ‘pretty good – I kicked it out of bounds on the full twice and got caught holding the ball in front of goal’ (the first quarter, resulted in a point). For the triple premiership player (along side team mates Rona Rich, Jen Wheeler, Aims, Buzz and Kez) this was her first as skipper and she was determined to lead the way. When quizzed about the question of retirement mentioned in The Canberra Times Ange’s response was ‘OMG, printed in Black & White so I can’t take it back’. But when pressed it was ‘I don’t know, ooh maybe, nah I wanna hang up the boots’. Ange said it was great for the team to win a flag as underdogs, particularly for the first year players ‘as premierships are hard to win and don’t come around too often’. ‘We were lucky to be playing Ainslie, we felt confident having beaten them in the first week of the finals’.
This confidence was probably shown by the first timers with Katie King declaring she thought it would be their year after the first up finals win against Ainslie. Not to be outdone first year player Rach ‘Colby’ Colbert confessed thinking that the team was premiership material after her first pre-season training run. Now that’s confidence for you. They were joined as first time premiership players by Jess Lang, Mel Akers, Wendy Bennett (who also won the prize for largest personal cheer squad at the GF), Amy Ticehurst, Belinder McPherson and Mickaela McGrath.
Despite this confidence of youth the wiser heads entered the season not knowing how the team would fare after a rebuilding season in 08. But with the bulk of last years new players returning and with some returning players including Tia Stevens and Bek (mat leave) and Kath Ghirardello (knee), who along with Rach Short, Steph Boxall, Sherrie Syrek, Ayla Hennessy and Doonz all claimed their second premiership.
In winning the 2009 Flag the Hawks became the first ACTWAFL team to win the flag from third spot (the new AFL inspired finals system helping no end there) and probably became the first premiership team to only kick one behind in the second half of their grand final win. They may also have become the first team to have won a premiership after failing to score a goal in a home and away match. After that game in July (a 0.7.7 to 1.1.7 draw against competition strugglers Gungahlin) the 2009 ACTWAFL premiership would have been considered a very unlikely dream. And after Sunday it had become an equally unlikely reality. Congratulations ladies.
Last Modified on 18/04/2010 19:49