FOOTBALL
GIPPSLAND LEAGUE
By LIAM DURKIN
Whether the odds be great or small,
Traralgon will go and win overall.
THE odds were certainly stacked against Traralgon on Gippsland League Grand Final day.
The odds were stacked against them throughout the whole finals series.
In actuality, they were stacked against them before the season had even started.
Yet last Saturday, the youthful Maroons left Morwell Recreation Reserve with the senior premiership cup in hand after defeating Leongatha 11.12 (78) to 7.11 (53).
The odds were undeniable. Traralgon had not even beaten the Parrots in their last 10 attempts.
The Maroons entered the decider having played three finals, two without the luxury of the double chance, against a side going for three flags in a row amid a run of eight consecutive Grand Finals.
The Parrots had lost only seven games in the last three years.
The Maroons haven’t even had proper changerooms during that length of time.
Leongatha boasted a team full of experience and with some of the greatest names in the game: Tom Marriott, Cade Maskell, Luke Bowman, Sean Westaway and Ben Willis – all over 30 years of age and all with significant finals experience.
Traralgon had a first year coach and a team of 20-year-olds, the result of an exodus of senior players in the offseason.
The way the game ended, it was like the son finally beating his dad in a game of golf.
The Maroons honestly could not have played much better.
Confidence and momentum proved just how powerful they can be in football, but it certainly took much more than that for Traralgon to eventually skip away to a 25-point win.
Externally at least, the Maroons had been viewed as too young, too inexperienced and too fragile.
In the end, it was more a case of too quick, too skilful, and ultimately, too good.
Most thought Leongatha would be far too superior, and when Jack Hume kicked the first goal of the game inside the first minute, such sentiments were only solidified.
The Parrots made most of the running in the early stages, but were wasteful in front of goal, kicking 1.4 (10) before Traralgon had even scored.
Leongatha went into the quarter time break with 2.5 (17) on the board – their second coming only after a downfield indiscretion from Maroons defender Mitch Membrey.
Membrey, one of the few Traralgon players over the age of 27 (only seven in total) had been kept busy in defence, especially in the first 10 minutes as Leongatha continually sent the ball inside 50.
On another windy finals day, which will unfortunately more than likely be the one thing most rank and file supporters remember from the last four weeks, the Maroons settled dealing with a tricky crosswind, getting their first goal at the 16-minute mark through Jordan Cunico running in for the easiest of chances.
Traralgon hit the lead when Luis D’Angelo found enough time and space to steady and drill one from 45 metres, following a timely smother from Maroons veteran Dylan Loprese that won the ball back at half forward.
Come the first huddle, Traralgon had negotiated the initial hurdle of not getting blown out of the water by their more fancied opponents.
Such a fate had seen many challengers to Leongatha over the years mentally frazzled, but for Maroons coach Troy Hamilton, he was pleased with where things sat.
“Two goals all at quarter time, I’m happy with that,” he told his charges before instructing them further.
“Take the extra half second, make the kick count.
“Play creative, we didn’t come here to go long down the line.”
The first quarter challenge from the Maroons may have sparked the Parrots into action, as they really pushed the envelope in the second term, laying some big hits.
Midfielder Luke Bowman slammed D’Angelo onto the cricket pitch, leaving him prostrate for some time, which was followed by Cam Olden taking Jackson McMahon high, resulting in some push and shove.
While D’Angelo was being tended to by trainers, Leongatha took full advantage of the outnumber and kicked a goal.
D’Angelo got up and left the ground, as it appeared Leongatha were prepared to play more like pirates than Parrots.
If Leongatha thought roughing up Traralgon was going to sow any seeds of doubt however, they were mistaken.
As it turned out, it was actually the Maroons who not only sowed the seeds, but had them firmly planted by halftime.
Traralgon responded through an unlikely source in 16-year-old Marlon Neocleous, who pulled off his best Eddie Betts impression to duck and weave his way through traffic, snapping truly as he fell to ground to get the margin back to two points.
The Maroons regained the lead via a player at the other end of the age bracket, after Dan McKenna kicked truly from a set shot right on 50.
McKenna, at the ripe ‘old in football terms’ age of 35, had come out of retirement this year as cover when Traralgon skipper Tye Hourigan went down with injury.
Hourgian returned in time for finals, but with McKenna playing well enough, was kept in the side.
His goal came after Maskell was blindsided by Cunico running off the bench to nab him holding the ball, which arguably had a negative ripple effect in the Parrots camp.
The first signs that Leongatha was starting to panic were evident when players like Bowman were simply kicking and hoping out of congestion, while Traralgon lifted their intensity.
Maroons midfielder Liam Willaton personified this with a tremendous second effort tackle on Tallin Brill – a player twice his size.
Willaton was shrugged off initially, but didn’t give up the chase, to eventually drag him to the ground.
D’Angelo recovered from his crash landing to kick an insane goal hugged up against the boundary at the scoreboard end, slicing the ball through at the 24-minute mark.
By now it was all Traralgon, and when Harvey Neocleous made it four in a row with a crumbing effort two minutes later, the Maroons led by 18 points.
Leongatha stemmed the bleeding with a late goal to Jesse Burns dribbling one home, but the desperation from Traralgon was still top shelf.
On the eve of halftime, Maroons vice captain Connor Ambler threw himself across the boots of Parrots midfielder Kim Drew, stopping a certain forward 50 entry, while a lunging tackle from Tom McMahon on Jenson Garnham prevented any further scoreboard damage.
With two goals the difference at the main break, Leongatha quickly made it one, scoring a major in the first 30 seconds of the third term.
When that happened, there was an undeniable feeling the Parrots would bust the game open from there, however, the Maroons stayed strong.
A 10 minute stalemate ensued, before long sleeve wearing Traralgon winger Tate Marsh accepted a switch kick, and drove it inside 50 where Harvey Neocleous got out the back to again make it a 12-point margin.
Worrying signs from the second quarter reappeared for Leongatha, with skill errors by foot telling. Drew kicked one out on the full kicking off one step, which may have been symptomatic of an overall feeling of helplessness.
Naturally, once that feeling became reality, some Leongatha players defaulted to trying to do everything themselves, which only made things worse.
By contrast, the Maroons stuck to their process of handballing to generate overlap and kicking long inside 50, letting their forwards compete one-on-one in dangerous spots close to goal.
Despite clearly dominating around the ground, Traralgon could not breakaway to a lead of more than two goals.
The Maroons kicked 1.5 (11) for the third term, while the Parrots had the same number of scoring shots and registered 2.4 (10).
Traralgon’s misses allowed Leongatha to go for end-to-end plays, and they opted to do so on two occasions. The first one resulted in a goal, and the second came within inches of doing likewise.
Maskell’s first kick out led to Bowman taking advantage to Olden, who assisted Garnham getting the goal. Olden had the chance to repeat the dose, but his kick went across the face at the 29-minute mark.
A grandstand finish was on the cards, with just seven points the difference at three quarter time.
Hamilton struck a very composed figure and kept instructions to a minimum, as Traralgon supporters hovered around saying “30 minutes boys”.
“Own the last kick, own the moment,” the coach said.
“Decisions that we make under pressure are everything.”
At the risk of bringing out clichés, the first goal of the last quarter was ‘huge’.
Some Maskell magic nearly led to the opening major, but his drop punt from deep in the pocket sailed through for a minor score.
The Parrots however tied things up when Drew snapped truly on his left at the six minute mark, although it wasn’t without controversy as Hourigan was not paid a mark a few seconds beforehand.
The ironic danger for Traralgon was that Hourigan had been paid a less controlled mark in the exact same position during the regular season against Morwell, a game that ended in a draw.
The Maroons had no time to reflect on that, and regained the lead from the next centre bounce, with McKenna this time playing the role of small forward.
McKenna made it two in two minutes after converting from the top of the goal square, following a perfect pass from Sam Hallyburton kicking to McKenna’s advantage, and an equally perfect pass from Marlon Neocleous that allowed Hallyburton to take the ball without breaking stride at half forward.
McKenna’s passionate goal celebration was matched by Hallyburton’s celebration after he’d delivered the ball to him, epitomising Traralgon’s team-first mentality that someone who assisted in a goal was just as pleased as the person who actually kicked it.
With their lead once again at two goals, the Maroons well and truly had the premiership in their sights.
Traralgon lifted a further gear, and could literally do no wrong the closer the game ticked to red time.
Another desperate tackle from Tom McMahon saw Hume pinged for holding the ball in the centre, which came after Marlon Neocleous out-marked Mitch Bentvelzen – a man nearly 10 years his senior.
The youngster went on to kick the sealer at the 18-minute mark, following a rundown tackle and subsequent set shot from deep in the pocket near the scoreboard.
Fittingly, he kicked the sealing goal right in front of the Traralgon faithful, a large portion of which was made up of his teammates from the under 16s, who had already won a premiership earlier in the day.
His goal put Traralgon’s name on the 2024 trophy, and 21st in their history.
His older brother Harvey was among the best for the winners, along with Max Jacobsen, Hourigan, D’Angelo, Loprese and Tristen Waack.
Jacobsen was awarded best-on-ground by the umpires, while D’Angelo claimed the Stan Aitken Medal.
Fittingly, Traralgon premiership player Jamie Aitken was there to present the medal.
Aitken had played in the Maroons’ miracle 2005 premiership, a game won in similar circumstances after Traralgon had gone in rank underdogs against Maffra.
That this flag will be fresh in the memory when the 20 year reunion takes place next year perhaps adds to a sense of destiny.
Bowman was named best for the Parrots, followed by Tim Sauvarin, Ned Hanily, Burns, Will Littlejohn and Ben Willis.
A side note likely lost amid the result was the extraordinary record of Willis in Grand Finals. He has been in the best for every Leongatha Grand Final between 2018 and 2024.
A greater record however is the performance of Traralgon in Grand Finals.
The Maroons simply don’t lose them.
Traralgon has gone five from six since 2000, and even then, the only one they lost was after the siren.
People can dislike Traralgon all they want, but the fact of the matter is they perform when it matters most.
Hamilton and Hourigan proudly accepted the premiership cup on stage, with the coach admitting he was “feeling pretty overwhelmed.”
“I feel like I’m sitting in a corner and just absorbing it in, I’m sure I’ll do that at some stage over the next few days,” he said.
“Thank you to Leongatha, obviously a fantastic club, I’ve used you guys as a reference to where we want to get to.”
Hamilton paid credit to Traralgon as a whole club, before addressing his players directly.
“I could not be prouder of each and every one of you, all year we kept coming and coming and coming, we tweaked things and we adapted to things,” he said.
“(You are) always listening. As a coach you feel like you’re being heard when you’re trying to put things in place then we go and do them.
“As a team, if we just go and support each other, stay as positive as we can, we keep picking each other up, loving each other, you can do amazing things.”
Hamilton may have been borrowing from The Beatles, who sang “all you need is love”, when he left with those parting words.
If love conquers hate, it could even be the secret to conquering the Gippsland League.
