WONTHAGGI Power has won a place in next week’s Gippsland League final series following an impressive win over second-placed Moe at Wonthaggi on Saturday.
Their prize is a trip to the Bairnsdale Recreation Reserve next Sunday, September 1, to play Sale in the Elimination Final after the Pies made a last-minute charge for finals action with a big win over Bairnsdale at Sale.
A place in the final five was up for grabs until the last round of a very even 2024 Gippsland season after an unexpected turn of events the previous week when Sale and Morwell played out a draw leaving Wonthaggi with the task of beating Moe at home to be sure of finals action.
In the end, while Sale beat Bairnsdale to get in, Morwell couldn’t get over Traralgon to hold on to fifth and Wonthaggi would have retained its place regardless of the result against Moe. But the win by Power certainly boosted their confidence ahead of the finals where Wonthaggi is seen as something of a wild card.
Having lost seven of their first nine games this year, after key injuries and several high-profile departures, most notably Jack Hutchinson who racked up 24 possessions and a goal for the West Coast Eagles against Geelong on Saturday, Wonthaggi won eight of their next nine to earn a place in the finals on their own merit.
It all started quietly enough on Saturday with Moe’s Jesse Chila scoring an opportunist goal at one end and Wonthaggi’s Jaxon Williams producing a carbon coy at the other end to make it a goal-a-piece after a tight opening 10 minutes.
The play switched end to end with both on-ball units evenly matched and Isaac Chugg taking it upon himself to play a zone defence down back, constantly mopping up any loose ball, getting plenty of help from the likes of Fergus O’Connor and Josh Schulz. Power was also getting plenty of drive away from the stoppages from Ryan Sparkes, Jack Blair, Aiden Lindsay and co but there were few scoring chances for either side.
Finally, with only a couple of minutes to go in the quarter, Jack Blair marked the ball out wide and slotted a terrific goal from the angle, especially given the windy conditions.
He might have had easier shot minutes earlier when he was the victim of a sling tackle, 25 metres in front of goal, but unseen by the umpires.
With the aid of the breeze in the second, Moe was constantly in attack, finally cracking through when beanpole forward Nick Prowse marked an incoming kick from onballer Ben Daniher before evening up the scores.
They were to have the better of the quarter adding two goals to Wonthaggi’s one, again in a tight match between two committed teams.
Moe got the opening goal of the third quarter but Wonthaggi assumed more control with the wind, and both Nathan Brown and Kaj Patterson had good chances to reply before Jaxon Williams earned a free kick to balance the scores again.
The quarter featured some brutal tackling, plenty of pressure on the ball carrier and fierce contests but Wonthaggi was able to kick two crucial goals, one to Noah Anderson after a nice pass from Ryan Sparkes and another after Jack Blair got the ball forward to where Anderson and Sparkes combined again.
Moe’s Declan Keilty continued to be a force to be reckoned with, however, and he took a fine contested mark, after good lead-up work by Jacob Wood and Trent Baldi before Bryce Collings kicked an important goal from the angle to make it just nine points the difference in a low-scoring game at three quarter time.
At the opening of the last quarter, Jack Blair earned a free kick at the bottom of a pack and found Noah Anderson who missed from 35 metres out. Fergus O’Connor produced a goal saving tackle at the other end before Isaac Chugg featured in the play of the day.
Again it was O’Connor who found Chugg at half back, before the speedster took two bounces around the wing and kicked to the advantage of Noah Anderson, running on ahead of Anderson who trapped the loose ball, Chugg took the handpass and slotted through one of the best goals you’d hope to see at this level.
The teams exchanged goals in the run to the line but the Power’s defence held up strongly, featuring Schulz, O’Connor and Gilmour and with the likes of Bray or Thomas in the ruck and Sparkes, Jack Blair or Bates and Lindsay on the ball opposed to Lachie McGrath in the ruck and Baldi, Daniher and Masters in an even tussle.
At the siren, Wonthaggi had produced a memorable 10-point win to secure their place in the finals, and not just as a number, but as a team in form who could make a real run at ultimate success in 2024.
Moe lost little on the day, shaping as one of the teams to beat in the finals, and as the players exchanged handshakes at the end, you could sense a strong level of respect between the two.
Afterwards, Wonthaggi coach Jarryd Blair remarked on how the team had continued to build through the season and his expectation was that there is still more improvement across the group.
Final scores: Wonthaggi 8.8.56 def Moe 7.4.46.
