FOOTBALL
GIPPSLAND LEAGUE
By LIAM DURKIN
THE stage is now set for the Gippsland League grand final.
It will be a repeat of the second semi-final between Moe and Leongatha.
The Parrots’ premiership/grand final run is well documented. The Lions’ premiership drought even more so.
Speaking of documenting, a film crew has been following Moe for the last three years. Long suffering supporters will be hoping there is no Part 4.
Supporters are set to flock to Traralgon Showgrounds for Saturday’s grand final.
The record crowd is around 12,000 (set in the late 1950s). While that number is unlikely to be broken, you can still bet it will be shoulder-to-shoulder around the changerooms and at Pud’s Bar.
There will only be two types of supporters: those wanting to see Moe win, and those wanting to see them lose.
Why? Because the Lions dare use their networks to recruit former AFL players, far from in-keeping with the supposed egalitarian nature of local footy.
This isn’t bush footy though.
It’s the Gippsland League, a major league requiring major players for success.
Leongatha have as much.
Fraser Phillips isn’t from Leongatha, nor is Kim Drew or Jack Sheridan. Cade Maskell and Luke Bowman aren’t either.
Whoever wins will be investigated by the salary cap police.
There are many of the belief Moe has been well over.
They have been well on their player points, no doubt, and used 39 out of 39 to defeat Leongatha in the second semi-final a fortnight ago.
They also lost every key statistic in that match but won the game. The Moe coaching staff will be well aware of this heading into its first grand final in 26 years.
Sentimentality could be on Moe’s side, yet the weight of history could as well.
Lions coach Leigh Poholke has made no pretentions about his ambitions this season.
“Our expectation is to play in a grand final, hopefully win a grand final, no one is shying away from that,” he told the Express during preseason.
Moe appears to have other factors working in its favour as well.
It lost just one game during the home-and-away season, secured its first minor premiership since 1972, and officially has the best player in the competition.
Moe-born (yes) Myles Poholke was the runaway winner in Sunday’s league vote count, winning the Trood Award and Rodda Medal by five votes from Wonthaggi’s Josh Bates (he certainly flew under the radar).
The Lions also had strong depth this year. Its reserves and thirds both finished in the top three and got to preliminary finals.
While it would have been quite something to have all three teams playing, having three grades in the top three is the sign of a healthy club nonetheless.
Leongatha on the other hand does have multiple teams in the grand final.
It reserves have qualified (and were very good at the weekend), meaning the Parrots won’t be restricted at selection.
Moe however isn’t so blessed.
The Lions have at least 25 senior players for 22 spots. The simple mathematics means some crunch decisions are going to be made.
As with any selection, the 22nd player will think the coach is a genius; the 23rd will think he has no clue.
In any other season, the 23rd to 26th player would probably be in this weekend.
Moe however has virtually had no injuries. To show just how strong they have been – Jake Bowden, who won this year’s reserves league best-and-fairest, started on the bench in the first semi-final a fortnight ago when the Lions had both grades competing on the same weekend and therefore had open selection.
Much as injuries are often dismissed by this writer whenever a team is performing badly, because “everyone gets injuries”, the benefits of having more first-choice players available is equally obvious.
The Lions gave players until February off this preseason, of the belief it would enable them to hit peak condition for the back half of the year.
While you can’t win a flag in preseason, you can certainly lose one. The delayed start appears to be the right call in hindsight.
Moe has defeated Leongatha in its three meetings this year. All three games however have been played in slippery conditions.
The forecast for Traralgon this Saturday couldn’t be any better for a grand final: 25 degrees and sunny. Spectators are set to see the ball ping around by hand and by foot from players on both sides boasting AFL experience.
Headlining the teams is James Harmes (Moe) and Dyson Heppell (Leongatha).
The two will likely lock horns in the midfield, just as they did during their AFL days for Melbourne/Western Bulldogs and Essendon respectively.
Moe has serious firepower in its front half. Riley D’Arcy, Myles Poholke and Harry Pepper were all among the top five league leading goal-kickers this season.
Finals however tend to lend themselves to unlikely heroes. Lion’s beanpole centre half forward Nick Prowse, who was swung into the ruck when Leongatha was 22 points up in the semi-final, might just be a player to keep a close eye on.
Most Moe supporters have been calling for Declan Keilty to play at his usual posting at centre half back, although Leigh Poholke has persisted with him inside 50. The thinking may well be to do the exact opposite to what his opposite number, Leongatha coach Trent McMicking, is thinking.
McMicking could experience a different outlook for what will his fifth consecutive grand final. In at least three of the previous four (perhaps excluding 2023), the Parrots have been favourite. With expectation now on the other side, Leongatha has a certain level of freedom.
McMicking jokingly predicted Moe to win the premiership at this year’s season launch. Even he is not oblivious to the pressure the Lions are under.
He too has played around with his line-up this year, moving key forward Patty Ireland back at times. Stoppage continues to be their one-wood, although there is no doubt a greater emphasis on pace on ball has also been enacted.
Much as veterans Tom Marriott, Cade Maskell and Luke Bowman are now well into their 30s, watching them up close – they still move very well. And there is no grey hairs on any of them.
The trio has played in five senior premierships for Leongatha, and given most of their teammates have done similar, they won’t be overawed by the occasion.
That could arguably be where the game is won and lost.
Wonthaggi was overawed in 2023 and lost.
Traralgon wasn’t in 2024 and won.
Truthfully, if you were to show Poholke and McMicking each other’s game plan, it wouldn’t make much difference. There is that much footage nowadays that you pretty much know exactly how every team plays.
Moe will know Maskell will run down and call for a handball receive if anyone is having a set shot right on 50.
Leongatha will know Moe will try and get the ball deep to Ben Crocker or D’Arcy.
Result aside, the contextualisation of the grand final shouldn’t be forgotten amid the euphoria or despair.
That’s because Moe’s linear narrative could now have caught up with Leongatha’s.
The Lions finished seventh in 2022. The Parrots finished in the same position in 2014.
Leongatha’s under 18s did not win a game that year either.
Change was needed. In stepped the inspirational Beau Vernon as coach, and Leongatha was into a grand final in his very first year. They did however lose two before getting on its premiership run.
Much like the Parrots, the Lions knew change was needed after a 140-point loss to Sale in 2022 (how the tide has turned).
The follow up led to three consecutive preliminary final appearances.
Moe has been working toward this day for at least four years. In the case of some players, it has been much longer. Going back even further, players who played the last time the club made a senior grand final (2000) are pleased they no longer hold that title.
For a couple of players, Jordan Shields and Harri Sim, they now get to experience what their dad’s did.
The younger Sim made his senior debut under James Blaser almost a decade ago. The league champion also gave debuts to Brock Smith and Scott Van Dyk, who have gone on to be senior captains of the club.
Jacob Wood handed over the reins of senior captain to Smith and Van Dyk after six years at the helm. At age 36, there would be no greater moment than if his name was called out to come on stage.
His long-time teammate Tom Long came out of retirement this year, initially just to help with numbers in the reserves, and is now on the verge of achieving something he probably thought was never going to happen after he initially hung up the boots in 2023.
Trent Baldi, Ben Maslen, Jarryn Makepeace, Tom Blackshaw, Jacob Balfour and Keilty make up second and third generation players whose families are involved with the club.
Expect to see those families out in force on Saturday. Win or lose, they will all still be there. It’s what makes Moe the club it is.
“The world will go on,” Leigh Poholke said if the seemingly unthinkable happens this Saturday.
“I’ve won premierships, Moe’s searching for that and I understand that. But Moe’s got everything that is more important than winning.
“They’re a super club, super well run, super supportive, great family environment. So whilst we do want to win, Moe’s already got more than what winning can bring.”
