East Wagga-Kooringal completed a perfect season and ended a 10-year premiership drought with a 36-point victory over Marrar in the Farrer Football League seniors grand final at Robertson Oval on Saturday, September 5.
The Hawks, who had gone through the home-and-away season unbeaten, overcame a strong early challenge from the Bombers to win 13.10 (88) to 8.4 (52). It was their first flag since 2016 and made them the first side to complete an undefeated Farrer League campaign since Collingullie-Ashmont-Kapooka in 2010.
Marrar, who had fought their way through the finals from fifth place, came out firing. Macauley Armstrong goaled in the opening minute and Jacob Knight added three of his five for the match as the Bombers established a 19-point quarter-time lead.
East Wagga-Kooringal began to claw their way back in the second term by creating space going forward, closing the gap to just four points by half-time. Alex Page, who finished with three goals and was named best on ground, was instrumental in turning the tide with two majors.
The Hawks then exploded in the third quarter, kicking six goals to one. Brocke Argus put them in front for the first time three minutes into the second half, and further goals to Jarrod Turner (three for the match) and Luke Gerhard helped them pull clear. Jerry Maslin’s second goal after the three-quarter-time siren gave them further momentum heading into the final term.
Sam Turner from Marrar, says the game, while not in favour of the Bombers, was a tough one with plenty of quality skills on show.
“The guys started the game really well, we were in front at quarter time and half time, which was definitely unexpected for most,” he says.
“I think most expected us to cop a bit of a hiding, but the weather was atrocious, which brought us back into the game. To be honest, it brought the skill level down a little bit, but we probably handled the conditions better to begin the game.
“It was pouring rain and windy, and it was a pretty hard slog.”
The Hawks seemed to “click into gear” as soon as the weather dried up at half time, and Sam says the Bombers couldn’t quite keep up as the Hawks took the lead.
“I’m pretty proud of the boys’ efforts, they didn’t through the towel in.”
The Hawks have taken the season seriously, and Sam says it was obvious how they have held their undefeated reign this year.
“It was still a great effort for the [Bombers] to make the grand final after only being stuck in finals, and they’re a very young team as well. So, they’ll only improve on that and grow from it to come back next year and go one better,” he says.
Despite the loss, the boys partied hard, and Sam says he is sure they are looking forward to some downtime before next year’s seasons starts.
“Majority of the players are sticking around and with a team so young, we’ll show some natural improvement with age, and hopefully we can bring in a couple of recruits to give it a crack,” he says.
Celebrating a year of achievements at their presentation night, the Bombers farewelled Coach Zac Brain, who is moving with his family to Western Australia.
“He’s taken a team that were predicted to finish second last at the start of the year and managed to take that team to the grand final, so he’s done an awesome job with the lot he had,” says Sam.
Zac was awarded Best and Fairest in First Grade, and was thanked by the Club for his hard work.
“We thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, and hope he realises that WA is too bloody hot and windy, and comes back,” says Sam.
The Marrar netball team also competed in their finals over the weekend, but struck out against Temora.
Wild weather proved an impenetrable opponent for both teams, but Sam says the club is proud regardless and looking forward to next year nonetheless.
Final scores
East Wagga-Kooringal 1.0, 5.4, 10.7, 13.10 (88)
Marrar 4.1, 6.2, 7.2, 8.4 (52)
Goals
EWK: A. Page 3, J. Turner 3, J. Maslin 2, B. Argus 2, L. Gerhard, C. Winter, A. Swan
Marrar: J. Knight 5, M. Armstrong 2, J. Taylor 1
The win capped a dominant two-year stretch for the Hawks under Barrett and delivered long-awaited premiership success for several long-serving players. For Marrar, it was a gallant effort after a remarkable finals run that included wins over higher-placed sides to reach the decider.
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.
