Three in a row for Sandringham

by AJ BRADY

IN the 2006 Victorian Football League Grand Final, the Casey Radio headed to inner-city MC Labour Park (aka Princes Park) in Carlton to see Sandringham win the coveted three-peat, downing Geelong by 18 points on Sunday.

Sandringham became the third team since World War 2, and the fifth in VFA/VFL history, to win three premierships in a row, after most recently Williamstown (1954-56) and Port Melbourne (1980-82).

As late as Thursday night, Sportingbet had Sandringham at $1.40 favorites, and Geelong were out to $2.90. This was despite the Cats winning two of the teams' previous three clashes of the season, though Sandringham did win their qualifying final three weeks ago by 21 points. Also, this took into account the Cats regaining veteran forward Matthew McCarthy from a shoulder injury, replacing new games record holder, nuggetty midfielder Adam Cook (64 games).

The VFL were expecting a crowd of around 12,000 for the big game, with the tidal wave of support Geelong had gained in recent weeks expected to figure prominently. However, the poor weather which greeted teams, showers and a fierce, bitingly cold wind, kept crowd numbers down, the official figure being 8746, slightly down on last year's figure.

The majority of the crowd, like last week, was still supporting the Cats, and made for a great atmosphere whenever the Cats scored a goal.

The strong wind at the beginning of the game favored the Legends Stand end of the ground, which is the end Sandringham kicked to after captain Chad Liddell, my tip for the Norm Goss Medal for best on ground before the match, elected to kick to.

Sandringham started the game well, getting good midfield drive through the run and carry of the likes of Phil Read, Shannon Motlop and David Gallagher, and with leading forwards such as Nick Sautner, they gained ascendancy early.

The Cats hit back late in the term, thanks to some industrious work on the wing by Brent Prismall, and when Liddell was taken off with a nose injury after being collected accidentally by a teammate, things were looking up for the Cats.

However, this was nullified late in the term, when the Cats were penalised when kicking out from goal, as their runner was inside the defensive 50 metre arc, the resulting free to Sandringham causing a goal.

Early on in the match, things were starting to resemble the VFA of old, with many small skirmishes occurring, before the match erupted at the quarter-time break when almost every player on the field got involved in a melee, most of all Geelong midfielder Travis Varcoe, who threw a few brilliant haymakers, most of which missed mind you, but he may find himself up before the VFL tribunal early this week.

Sandringham coach Mark Williams was very positive at the break, no surprise given his charges had taken a 13-point lead. He applauded his charges efforts of gaining 29 one-percenters in the first term, well on track to receive the VFL average of 100-120 per game. Williams also said to make use of the coverage from the wind provided at the opposite end of the ground by the three-tiered Pratt Stand, the midfielders urged to kick to their forwards on that side of the ground.

The second term was a little slower-paced than the first, with the game turning slightly more defensive. The weather began to clear up somewhat, but tall Zebras defenders such as Andy Biddlecombe and Alastair Nicholson were repelling the wind-aided Geelong attacks. Only Geelong veteran Kent Kingsley, in his final game for the club after quitting during the week, looked like providing a danger for the Zebras, as he managed to pounce on anything near by.

The half-time margin of 12 points in favour of the Zebras definitely augered well for them, having withstood the Cats best when they had the wind.

The umpires copped a sea of boos from the Cats supporters unhappy with the men in orange's job to that point, the free kick count being 8-4 in the Zebras favour.

The third quarter, otherwise known as the "premiership quarter" in football parlance, saw the experience and nous of the Zebras come to the fore. They only had their limit of 12 AFL-listed players, compared to Geelong's 20, but they were determined to overcome all odds to win, best exemplified by Liddell's return to the field in the quarter with bandages up his nostrils.

The Zebras piled on five goals to two to take a 34-point lead in the three-quarter time break, thanks to the strong work around the stoppages from Paul Wheatley, and some good marking and opportunistic forward play from Nick Smith and Sautner. Despite the sun now shining over MC Labour Park, the lead seemed unassailable, even if the Cats had the wind in the final term.

At the final change, Williams urged his players to remember their drills during the week, get goal-side as often as possible, work hard in attack and emphasising the forward pressure that must be applied, such as tackles and chasing. He structured the forward line with Wheatley and Lynden Dunn pushing up, and leaving Sautner deep in the goalsquare.

Just about every text book on football was thrown out at the beginning of the final term, as Geelong came storming back into the match, booting five goals in nine minutes to trail by just five points and have the crowd jumping.

Captain James Byrne and defenders Tim Sheringham and Will Slade were launching attack after attack from the defensive flanks, and a bit of luck shone on them as well, with Nathan Ablett scoring a soccer goal in the goalsquare.

But, as all champions do, when challenged they respond in kind, and the might and class of the Zebras showed up clearly here, as Liddell, Ezra Poyas, Chris Lamb and Peter Summers worked diligently all over the ground to help the Zebras kick late goals and win the tussle, 13.13.91 to 11.7.73.

The final stats were quite even, with both teams winning 46 hit-outs, Sandringham having just one more clearance (37-36) and Sandringham getting a few more frees (17-13). The major difference lay in the forward 50 entries, with Sandringham leading Geelong 67-56, showing a bit more efficiency in their clearance-entry ratio.

Better players for the Zebras included Norm Goss medallist Read, who has been exceptional all finals series, his hard running and tough in-and-under ball-winning abilities being a feature again; Motlop, who provided great drive through the midfield, passing long and direct through the corridor, as well as also pinch-hitting quite well across half-forward, chiming in with two goals; Gallagher, who gave great run-and-carry along the wings, as well as providing the forwards with silver service; Wheatley, who was hard-working both in defence and up forward, providing plenty of drive and goal opportunities for his side, as well as scoring a goal himself; Summers, who was diligent across half-forward and forward-of-centre, being prepared to put his head over the football and take contested marks whenever needed; and, veteran Nicholson, who played his best game in quite a long time, providing a contest for Geelong's forwards and never allowing his direct opponent easy kicks or goals.

Better players for the Cats included Prismall, who worked hard in the midfield and showed some class with his disposal by hand and foot, something which has been a feature right through Geelong's finals campaign; Kingsley, who finished with four goals and was the stand-out forward on the ground, leading hard, showing adeptness below his knees and making the most of his opportunities, showing other AFL clubs out there he still has talent to offer; Slade, who was resolute in defence, working hard to provide contests for the Sandringham forwards and launch Cat attacks from the defensive line; captain Byrne, who stood up on the biggest stage like a captain should; winning a lot of contested possessions across the midfield and putting his team into attack with some direct and efficient possession; Sheringham, who again played well in defence, as he has done all year really, giving great second and third efforts and not conceding possession or goals to his opposition forwards without a huge fight; and, Ablett, who finished a great finals series with a strong performance, who showed class and hard-work by again pushing up from his forward flank starting position to gather possession and help Geelong enter their forward line, Ablett's form indicating he should be a starter in the Cats AFL 22 next season.

A magnificent effort and a much-deserved premiership for the Zebras, the VFL's modern day powerhouse with eight premierships in the past 21 years. Also, this was a special victory for the club which lost its devoted president, Gary Gilchrist, to a heart attack earlier this season aged just 53.

While the Zebras can spend the summer lapping up another victory, the Cats must regroup and try and take that next step, though they can be well satisfied with their efforts this season, having come from bottom of the ladder last year to a Grand Final appearance, a lack of injuries helping them on their way.

26 September 2006

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