VFL flag to Cats

by AJ BRADY

IN the Victorian Football League (VFL) grand final for 2007, the Casey Radio 97.7FM 3SER team witnessed Geelong thrash the Coburg Tigers by 74 points at Princes Park.

Before the biggest VFA/VFL grand final crowd since Coburg's last appearance in 1989 at Windy Hill against Williamstown, the game ended up being an anti-climactic end to the season, with Geelong dominating from the first bounce, only scoreboard inaccuracy keeping Coburg in it until the third term.

The official crowd figure of 13,842 basked in the beautiful Melbourne sunshine, with the breeze not having too much of a influence on the game, thanks to the high-rise stands surrounding this former AFL venue.

Prior to the match, the Melbourne High School band entertained the crowd as children wearing guernseys representing all current VFL teams tossed footballs to each other on the ground, before kicking them into the crowd.

There was an early celebration for Coburg, with their reserves thrashing Port Melbourne in the seconds grand final by 66 points, with Steven Foster winning the medal as best-on-ground.

Once the entertainment and pre-match formalities were done, the all-important coin toss was won by Cats captain James Byrne, the JJ Liston medallist. Byrne elected to kick with the slight breeze favouring the Legends Stand end of the ground.

The first quarter saw Coburg take on what appeared a pre-meditated plan to rough the Cats up physically. The Tigers players continually went the man rather than the ball, and many spotfires broke out over the ground during the course of the quarter.

The Cats were winning in general play, with veteran ruckman Steven King winning 12 hit-outs for the term and running half-back flanker Tim Callan providing a lot of drive through his eight disposals, as well as some electrifying run-and-carry work by Jason Davenport (nine disposals) and Byrne (seven).

Going into the match, Tigers mentor Andy Collins spoke of how difficult it was going to be for his club to upset the Geelong applecart, considering VFL rules allowed the Cats to field 18 AFL-listed players, while Coburg could only manage 11 out of a maximum allowable number of 12.

The stats told a tale of where play occurred mostly in the first term, as Coburg's leading possession-winners were all defenders in Paul Shelton (nine disposals), Kelvin Moore (seven) and Andrew Horne (six).

Despite such dominance in general play, some inaccuracy in front of goal saw the Cats only lead at the first break by 15 points, a fact harped on at the first change by Collins. He told his players to keep the physical pressure on the ball-handler and attack at all costs.

The second term mirrored the first in many ways, but to a more extreme point. The Cats grew tired of Coburg's continual physical attacks on them, and retaliations soon became extreme. At one point, Cat goalsneak Nathan Djerkurra received a free kick after a high hit, and from only 20 metres out duly slotted the goal, after which a small melee broke out. Djerkurra was awarded another shot on goal, this time from just 10 metres out, but could only hit the post with this shot.

On another occasion, Callan ran off the centre line at a bounce and laid a big bump on pinch-hitting Tigers ruckman Natale Caruso, with Caruso badly fracturing a finger and being forced from the field for the rest of the game.

The Cats continued to dominate play, but simply couldn't convert it onto the scoreboard. Charlie Gardiner (eight disposals), Scott Thompson (11) and Tom Lonergan (seven) were proof that the forwards were getting plenty of it, but couldn't convert accurately enough.

For the Tigers, their better ball-winners for the term included midfielder Daniel Jackson (10) and half-forward Patrick Bowden (10), while defender Travis Casserly was providing a lot of valuable rebound with seven disposals.

At half-time, the margin was still only 14 points, and after conceding twice as many scoring shots in the first half and yet still be only that margin behind, the Tigers went into the break fancying their chances of running over the top of the Cats.

The third quarter has always been known as the "premiership quarter" in traditional football parlance, and if ever it was shown to be true in a premiership decider, it was on this day.

The Cats returned to the field after a bake from coach Leigh Tudor, and were pumped up and ready to put their on-field dominance into scoreboard dominance.

In a stunning quarter of dominant football, the Cats controlled play all over the ground, and with the inspired move of defender Lonergan into attack, the ball started rolling for the Cats.

Thanks to an opportunistic five goals from six kicks for the term from Lonergan, as well as eight disposals to both Ryan "Vegas" Gamble and captain Byrne, the Cats piled on 7.6 for the term, and kept the Tigers to just a solitary behind, to effectively put the game to bed, leading by 61 points at the final change.

Bowden was switched to defence early to try and stem the flow, but his six disposals for the quarter weren't all that effective. Better stats winner included six to both Casserly and Alister Neville, both defenders.

At the final chance, Tigers coach Collins had conceded that this match was gone, telling the Tigers to play for pride, win the final term and give their supporters hope for the future.

The final term was a very lacklustre affair, with the sting clearly gone out of the game. The Cats managed to win it 5.5 to 3.4, with Byrne racking up another 11 disposals in a utility role, helped ably by Davenport with another eight, and Callan with nine.

For the Tigers, Jackson gathered nine disposals and captain Travis Ronaldson six, but both of these players had conceded to their opponents throughout the day.

After doing a lap of honour and celebrating with the cheer squad in the Legends Stand, the Cats made their way to the wing to receive their premiership medallions, as the crowd charged onto the field to join in celebrations.

In a hugely popular decision, Lonergan was awarded the Norm Goss Medal for his stunning six-goal performance as a pinch-hitting forward. Lonergan was extremely emotional in accepting the award, calling it "one of the best days of my life". It had been a remarkable comeback for a man whom only 13 months earlier was lying in hospital in an induced coma having lost a kidney, seven litres of blood and 17 kilograms following a sickening incident in an AFL game against Melbourne.

Better players for the Cats included Lonergan firstly, who apart from his match-winning six-goal turn, also finished the day with 21 disposals and 11 marks in an effort which made front-page news in Monday's Herald-Sun; Henry Playfair, who continued to present well as a roaming half-forward target, and despite missing a few easy shots on goal, he still gathered 22 disposals and took nine marks in a solid effort; Thompson, who pushed his case to be drafted by an AFL club with a stunning 28-disposal game in the heart of the midfield, as well as taking 11 marks and providing some good strong work in the clinches; King, who dominated in ruck all day, finishing with 30 hit-outs, most of which were effective, as well as 16 disposals and five marks in a superb all-round effort from the big man, so much so that it earned him a recall for the Cats AFL grand final; captain Byrne, who continued to quietly go about his business of racking up contested possessions and putting his side into attack, finishing with a game-high 31 disposals and nine marks in a trademark performance from the redhead; and, Davenport, whose speed and efficiency electrified the Cats all day, finishing with 26 possessions and 10 marks in a terrific effort by the Cats rookie-listed player.

Better players for the beaten Coburg side included Jackson, who had fought out a strong battle in midfield against Byrne for most of the day, and whilst beaten, he wasn't disgraced, finishing with 25 disposals and six marks; Horne, who tried his hardest to stem the flow of ball coming into the Cats forward line all day, he finished with 18 disposals and four rebound 50s in a strong effort; Bowden, who tried hard in the ruck, up forward and in defence all day, his height was a precious commodity that the Tigers didn't have enough of on the day, meaning Bowden had to battle out of his weight division on many occasions, finishing wiht 24 disposals and 10 marks in what can only be described as a solid performance; and, Neville, the 2007 Frank Johnson medallist capped off his year with a strong performance in the big one, gathering 20 disposals and six marks playing in defence, working hard to keep the Coburg side alive as long as possible.

To all VFL fans, wherever you may be, enjoy a well-earned rest over the warmer months, and spend the first few weeks of 2008 getting your tonsils into gear to shout out loud for your team in 2008, in what will hopefully be an even bigger, brighter and better season for the Victorian Football League.

17 October 2007

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