THE Leongatha Parrots have won their way into a ninth straight Gippsland League Grand Final with a dour but somehow dominant display against reigning premiers Traralgon at Morwell on Saturday.
Leading by just three points at three-quarter time, they drew away with goals to Zavier Lamers, kicking the game-breaker off an error by the otherwise mercurial Traralgon captain Ty Hourigan, and a late strike by Jenson Garnham, who kicked four of the team’s seven goals in a low-scoring match.
The Parrots ran out winners by 20 points in the end.
Over the past decade, from 2015 onwards, when they lost the grand final that year to their nemesis of the early 2000s, Maffra, the last club to develop a significant dynasty in the Gippsland league, Leongatha has appeared in every grand final, winning four along the way in 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023.
But they were also robbed of likely success in the two COVID years, in 2020, when there was no football played at all, and Leongatha had arguably the best list in the comp and also in 2021 when they were declared ‘minor premiers’ after the season was called off with Leongatha in a dominant position on top.
But they get the chance now to make it five premierships from 11 seasons after winning through to the 2025 grand final, to be played at Morwell on Saturday, September 20.
To give you an indication of Leongatha’s dominance in the match, from the 15-minute mark in the second quarter, after Traralgon went 13 points clear with two goals via Sammy Hallyburton and Dylan Loprese in the space of 20 seconds, Leongatha had 42 inside 50s to Traralgon’s 11. They had 53 to 29 inside 50s on the day.
It was to the credit of Traralgon’s defenders, led by Hourigan, and the likes of Mitch Membrey, Joel Scholtes, Conor Little, and co that they were able to hold the Parrots off, while at the other end, Leongatha’s defenders; Tim Sauvarin, Ben Harding, Cade Maskell, Jay Walker and Travis Nash were doing something similar.
But it was Leongatha’s on-ball unit which set up the victory, Ben Willis with 36 hit-outs, often putting the ball directly into the hands of Dyson Heppell, Kim Drew, Tom Marriott, Aaron Heppell and others. They won the clearances 36-32 and the centre clearances 9 to 5.
The Parrots’ pressure on the ball carrier was a constant throughout with the tackling, smothering and harassing a feature.
And when they broke into the clear, their handball and kicking to position was good, with Leongatha’s run and carry at least as good as Traralgon’s which has been a real strength of the Maroons.
But, across the whole day, it was the elite ball handling and creative play of Dyson Heppell which stood them in good stead with the 253-AFL-game player finishing with 42 possessions evenly spread between 21 handballs and 21 kicks.
Final scores: Leongatha 7.12.54 to Traralgon 5.4.34.
