FOOTBALL
NORTH GIPPSLAND
BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
Cowwarr 15.16 (106) def Heyfield 14.4 (88)
IF it wasn’t clear heading into this finals series, Cowwarr are going to be tough to beat.
The Saints ran over the top of Heyfield in the North Gippsland Football-Netball League second semi final last Saturday (August 29), 15.16 (106) to 14.4 (88).
Played at Yarram Recreation Reserve, the star-studded minor premiers were pushed to the brink against the Kangaroos, in what was the Saints first senior final since 2012, but still came out on top quite convincingly.
Cowwarr nailed the first punch of the game through Caleb Michie, just two minutes into the contest, as the pressure on the Heyfield midfield and defensive unit was evident early.
The Kangaroos were caught out, unable to pick up free Saints players inside 50 on multiple occasions, ending in a Sam Hallyburton goal.
The trailing side were able to respond instantly from that second concede, with full forward Leigh Brown too much for a Cowwarr defender, converting off a free kick close to home.
Pressure continued to mount on Heyfield’s back six, with playing coach Daniel Bedggood arriving into the hotspot to attempt to alleviate some angst.
However, Michie took another solid grab for Cowwarr and converted on a tough angle for the Saints third of the day.
While the ball lived almost exclusively in Cowwarr’s forward half, the most glaring problem for Heyfield was when they won a contest and cleared the ball, the centre half forward line was non-existent.
The Kangaroos finally got a stoppage in their forward half, which allowed them to eventually see the ball inside 50 and find Mitch Bennett, subsequently adding Heyfield’s second goal.
Heyfield went on the attack after a minor score from the Saints, but Cowwarr’s Tristen Waack smartly sat himself in the blanket area that Kangaroos forwards failed to present to.
While Waack took an easy intercept mark, Brown came in to stand the mark and managed to get a hand into the ball as Waack attempted to handball off, creating some necessary chaos for Heyfield and leading to a Kyle Graham goal.
The tight margin, brought back to a single point, didn’t last too long, as Cowwarr won the very next centre bounce with ease and Hallyburton sent through a goal just as quickly.
Heyfield then gave their opponent a taste of their own medicine after winning a free kick to clear the ball out of the centre, Bennett was found, spinning around a defender and sailing home a goal off one step from 45 metres out.
As the clock ticked down to end the first quarter, the Kangaroos defence withstood a barrage of forward 50 efforts from the Saints to land one more punch before the break.
Even with the ball now away from that dangerous area, Cowwarr eventually won it through the middle of the ground, with Goanar Ruach free to run straight at the goals and find Keenan Hughes to add his first, seeing the Saints lead by seven points.
Heyfield on-baller Rob McMillan added about four touches within the first 90 seconds of the second term, including a smooth win out of a boundary throw-in along the wing, ending in Brown handing off to Bennett for his second.
Early days and the Kangaroos were now the ones putting the pressure on, as Cowwarr forwards whiffed some simple kicks which saw Heyfield defenders act quickly and clear their troubles.
Down the other end, Graham handed off to Bennett, who through a friendly bounce and sheppard on the goal line from Brown, sent through his third and put Heyfield in front for the first time.
The Saints defence was under the pump, but clear signs that the Kangaroos were out for an upset was felt after young Phoenix Cox got a holding the ball, going back and again handing off to Bennett coming around the back.
Bennett launched it from 50 metres out, hitting the ball as sweet as ever as it cleared the goal line close to the fence.
All of a sudden, Heyfield led by 11 points.
A few hot minutes transpired, where even when Cowwarr looked dangerous once more, Heyfield’s defence were rock solid and did everything right.
Eventually, Brown was gifted a freebie in the goal square as Heyfield extended its lead out to 16 points.
After a few times of dishing off to his in-form teammate, Graham went back and nailed his second goal of the day, as the margin grew to 23 points Heyfield’s way.
Cowwarr managed to get back to winning clearances, locking the ball inside their forward half once again, ending in Brady Hood adding the Saints first goal of the term.
The shift of momentum swiftly went back the way of Heyfield, pouring in two late goals from Brown and Bennett.
As such, Heyfield led Cowwarr by 28 points come the main break.
This was the first time all season that the Saints went into the rooms with a deficit halfway through.
All or nothing at this point, for both teams, the first five minutes of the second half was played at a frantic pace.
Cowwarr were benefited a 50 metre penalty, putting Hallyburton 15 metres out directly in front of goal however, the Kangaroos were saved by an unimaginable miss.
On the very next play down the field, Heyfield worked it down into the hands of Jake Boccari, who converted straight in front.
While results were similar from the second quarter through the first 10 minutes, with Heyfield able to withstand much of Cowwarr’s attack, Michie was eventually found once more.
Going back on a tough angle around 35 metres out, Michie made it look easy as the margin was cut to three goals.
Even as Cowwarr seemed to have got back into rhythm, the Kangaroos weren’t about to back down and Tyler Anderson found the scoreboard majorly to keep the margin over 20 points.
On the very next centre clearance, the ball was again into Heyfield’s forward line, ending with Graham completing a nice toe-poke through the goals for his third.
The quarter came to an end with either side not relinquishing any further major score, but one man had risen in time for the final term.
Waack, who had been inserted into the ruck for Cowwarr, as the margin sat comfortably in Heyfield’s favour at 24 points as the fourth quarter arrived.
The Traralgon premiership player and former VFL player turned the game on its head through the strategic move, and the Saints came out of the final huddle with only one goal in mind.
After a few minutes played closely through the middle of the field, Hallyburton found Michie inside for another nice grab, but this time ended in a minor score.
However, Cowwarr locked the ball in their attacking end, leading to Waack lacing out Jack Johnstone for his first of the day and cutting the margin to 17 points.
Returning confidently, the Saints won another centre ball and found it into the forward pocket, where Johnstone nailed a hard tackle on Heyfield’s Tyson Birss, hurting each of them.
Both exited the ground, but Johnstone perhaps came off second best, blood squirting out of his face.
Soon after, fellow Cowwarr superstar Shannen Lange, who had been kept relatively quiet up to that point, shot home an inspiring goal running towards the boundary from 50 metres out.
Right in front of the coaches box, the score gave even more life to the Saints and Hughes made it another for Cowwarr, as the deficit was suddenly just five points.
The Saints successively disallowed Heyfield’s midfield to even touch the ball during this stretch only for Kangaroos defenders to eventually pick off a few Cowwarr passes.
It didn’t last long in possession of Heyfield, as the ball turned over and Waack stretched out for a nice mark on the wing and booted it over his head to Hughes for a set shot right where Lange converted not too long ago.
Hughes caught the best of it and got the ball over the goal line just to push Cowwarr into the lead for the first time since the second quarter.
Relentless at this point, Cowwarr were getting all the luck with the bounce of the ball, simply due to straight lining it, nearly extending their lead immediately but Waack snapped the ball wrongly from short range.
Heyfield finally found some strong efforts in their forward half, as Bedggood led hard for a mark inside 50, sinking it to put the Kangaroos right back in front.
The Saints win was perhaps booked on the next play, with ruckman Lachlan Sykes kicking accurately from 40 metres out to go ahead by two points.
The pressure of breaking down Cowwarr had gotten the better of Heyfield, missing targets by the end and Hallyburton subsequently converted another for the Saints to extend the margin to nine points.
Into redtime, it was all Cowwarr, proving their fitness, to go along with their sheer talent, was undeniable.
Michie found the ball inside as the siren sounded, which secured Cowwarr’s spot in the grand final, for the first time since their last senior premiership in 2006.
Heyfield will take on Woodside for the second time in three weeks in this Saturday’s preliminary final at Gaskin Park, Churchill.
Woodside 21.8 (134) def YYN 10.8 (68)
REIGNING back-to-back North Gippsland senior premier, Woodside undertook the perfect response to a tough loss the week prior.
The Wildcats defeated Yallourn Yallourn North in the elimination semi final by 66 points at Tyers Recreational Reserve last Sunday (August 30).
Questions were answered after Woodside failed to make the most of their opportunities in the qualifying final against Heyfield to book a date with flag favourite.
The Jets, on the other hand, arrived in blistering form after a comfortable 10 goal win over Rosedale in the elimination final.
Both teams started feistily, indicating to everyone watching on that the match would go deep.
Woodside caught YYN out the back, as Matt Dyke was pushed in the back by defender Will Jenkinson just before the ball trickled across the line, giving the Wildcats an easy first goal of the match.
The Jets quickly responded, with Dylan Keyhoe passing off to Tyler Brown, running straight forward for another simple major.
Forward pressure was essentially for YYN, as the Jets had been struck with a tough blow with star full forward and co-coach Dean MacDonald done for the rest of the season with an ankle injury.
His nephew, Cody MacDonald rose to begin proceedings, nailing a nice finish to make it consecutive goals the way of YYN.
Woodside got to work from the next centre ball, combining nicely via hand, but Ashton Janssen missed a close one off a snap.
Tom King received a 50 metre penalty for another easy goal for Woodside, following a late hit from YYN defender Campbell MacInnes to cut the margin to one point the way of the Jets.
Luke Johnson made it consecutive goals for the Wildcats not long after from straight in front to move ahead by five points.
What would soon become even worse for the Jets began towards the end of the first quarter, with Woodside finding loose players through the middle of the ground, opening up their attack.
In a stoppage in the far pocket, Rob Michaelides snapped on the run, seeing the ball bounce high over the contest on the goal line to go through majorly.
YYN’s defence worked calmy to move the ball way from Woodside’s goals, but after a tough miss from Todd Dixon on the other end right in front, Michaelides was found inside 50 on his own to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 16 points.
The Jets managed to answer back before quarter time, with Darcy Shellcot snapping through traffic to stem the bleeding, and YYN almost added another through Josh Keyhoe on the very next possession.
What would follow in the second quarter would be quite the sight however.
Woodside playing coach Hudson Holmes added his first for the day within the first two minutes, which kickstarted an almighty term for the Wildcats.
Working the ball down from a kickout perfectly, it found its way into Woodside’s forward 50 in seconds, before Holmes added another.
The Wildcats appeared to have all the time in the world, identifying the mismatches across the ground before Brody Stainer added his first for the game after being laced out down the spine.
After it was just a 10 point game at the first break, the scoreboard all of a sudden read Woodside ahead by five goals.
YYN’s Josh Keyhoe whiffed a chance to break Woodside’s run before soon after Luke Johnson launched a monster goal from 45 metres out that went close, but teammate Ryan Foat marked on the goal line to make it five goals straight.
Four more goals came before halftime, including two from Dyke, to see the Wildcats lead by a staggering 62 points come the main break.
Even without looking at Woodside’s score, reading 14.2 (86), the foot skills to get the ball down into their forward line was just as impressive as the way the goals were scored.
With the game practically already in the bag, the Wildcats let their foot off the clutch slightly to begin the second half.
YYN managed to kick six goals straight in the third quarter, which was a welcome sight after being held goalless in the second term, but Woodside booted four themselves to negate any thought of a miraculous comeback.
The game played out evenly in the final hour, with each team booting seven goals for the half.
Dyke had a day out with six goals, which was by far his most for year, having not kicked multiple goals at all leading into the game.
Joh Fythe, Rowan Missen, Michealides, Darby Taylor and Ryan Foat were others of note for Woodside, while YYN did not name their best players.
The result now sets up a rematch of the qualifying final between Heyfield and Woodside in the preliminary final, held at Gaskin Park, Churchill this Saturday (September 5).
IN the reserves grade, the three remaining sides are all the same as the seniors.
Heyfield upset previously unbeaten Cowwarr in the second semi final on Saturday (August 29) by 33 points to book a spot in the grand final.
The Kangaroos reserves had fallen flat come finals in recent years, including going out in straight sets last season after previously not losing a game.
Heyfield would be inspired to go all the way this year after the sudden and heart-breaking loss after last year’s reserves league best-and-fairest Ben Darby in the offseason.
Cowwarr will take on Woodside in the preliminary final after the Wildcats defeated YYN reserves in the first semi final on Sunday by 19 points.
HEYFIELD will also feature in the Thirds grand final, in an attempt to go back-to-back, after defeating minor premier Rosedale by 46 points on Saturday.
The Kangaroos won a spectacular 2025 Grand Final over Churchill in which a scoreboard error saw the match go into extra time and Heyfield get the job done.
Before the whiff was made aware of, the junior Cougars were rightfully celebrating following the final siren to conclude the fourth quarter, believing they’d won.
Churchill are pushing for redemption, having defeated Sale City in the first semi final on Sunday by 48 points.
The Cougars host Rosedale on their home ground this Saturday’s preliminary final.
