Kerang set up a mouth-watering grand final with the Cohuna Kangas following an emphatic 82-point victory over a disappointing Woorinen at Cohuna on Saturday.
The Blues opened with five unanswered goals in the first term and eventually ran away with a comfortable 18.12.120 to 5.8.38 win. The loss ends the Tigers run as reigning premiers, which dates back to their 21-point win over the Mallee Eagles in the 2018 grand final.
Kerang bounced back from an inaccurate and frustrating second semi-final performance against the Kangas, finding their running game through the corridor to rip open the Tigers.
Blues co-coach Troy Coates wound the clock back with a performance that would have had alarming bells ringing among the assembled Cohuna coaching staff, booting a game high seven goals. Coates, along with fellow small forward Sean Hunter, caused havoc up forward all day.
Kerang not only won the ball around the clearances, but transitioned the ball to their outside runners with much more ease than Woorinen.
The Blues’ coaching staff would also have been pleased with their pressure and intensity at the contest, combined with their well organised press, which proved almost impossible for Woorinen to pick their way through. The Tigers were forced into short passes and staid ball movement, which played right into Kerang’s hands.
As impressive as Kerang were in the first half in setting up a 26-point half time lead – they were irresistible after the main break, piling on seven goals to two in the premiership quarter to put the game to bed.
Kerang started the match by pulling a couple of surprise moves, with Michael Dalrymple starting forward and Bryce Curnow beginning the game at centre half back. While Dalrymple would eventually return to defence, as well as having a turn in the ruck – Curnow on the other hand remained down back for the afternoon, where he had a significant hand in Blues win.
After being monstered in the ruck against Cohuna, Troy Davis returned to Kerang’s team and had an immediate impact both at the stoppages and around the ground – and perhaps shaded his opposite number Arnold Kirby before Davis was put on ice after three-quarter time. Also put on ice during the late stages were Sam Heavyside, who returned to the side after a lengthy injury lay-off, and Rylee Smith, who appeared may have had a re-occurrence of his hamstring strain – with the severity of it to be determined during the week.
Josh Nitschke once again showed his class for the Blues and was one of the key contributors in the midfield, along with Nick Stagg, Marty Kelly, Josh Hann and Ryan Gillingham. Lachlan Ross found plenty of the football across half back, while Brandon Hayes and Josh Hunter were more than serviceable in the Kerang back six.
Woorinen would be disappointed with the end to a season which at times promised so much, however the reality is their growing injury list was always going to catch up with them at some point. While a number of their key players were down on their usually high and consistent output, they did get a lot from the younger members of their side. Regan Vesty was Woorinen’s best player across the full four quarters, while Matthew Gardner and Henry Thompson were constantly rebounding the ball out of their defensive half, along with Robert Rush and Nyawi Moore.
It was a case of too much being left to too few for the Tigers, with Patrick Veszpremi, Arnold Kirby and Lachlan Gardner all down on their usually consistent output and unable to have their regular impact on the match.
MATCH RESULTS
KERANG 5.3 6.5 13.10 18.12 (120)
WOORINEN 0.0 2.3 4.3 5.8 (38)
GOALS –
KERANG – Troy Coates 7, Sean Hunter 2, Nicholas Stagg 2, Bronson Booth, Michael Dalrymple, Ryan Gillingham, Hayden Hall, Joshua Hann, Joshua Hunter, Martin Kelly 1.
WOORINEN – Jye Barry, Lachlan Gardner, Arnold Kirby, Regan Vesty, Lachlan Wright 1.
BEST –
KERANG – Troy Coates, Joshua Hann, Bryce Curnow, Nicholas Stagg, Ryan Gillingham, Martin Kelly
WOORINEN – Matthew Gardner, Regan Vesty, Henry Thompson, Robert Rush, Jye Barry, Josh Domaille
