Leongatha Parrots win through to their 10th straight granny
Football purists have got the match-up they wanted to decide the premier team in the Gippsland league in 2026, after Leongatha won their preliminary final against Warragul in convincing style at Sale on Saturday.
FOOTBALL purists have got the match-up they wanted to decide the premier team in the Gippsland league in 2026, after Leongatha won their preliminary final against Warragul in convincing style at Sale on Saturday.
In so doing, they are through to their 10th Gippsland League grand final in-a-row, having returned to the winner’s circle against Traralgon last year, but this time a much more formidable opponent awaits.
The previous week, Leongatha and Moe had played out one of the most epic Second Semi-finals you’re ever likely to see, only decided on the last kick of the day.
And a similar match is in prospect this coming Saturday at Traralgon, with Moe aiming to break a 59-year premier drought and Leongatha tuning up to continue a developing dynasty.
But they had to get over Warragul first.
In the end, they doubled the Gulls’ score, to win by almost 12 goals, but Warragul was certainly up for the fight, especially in the first half of the opening quarter when they had six of the first seven inside 50s.
However, they missed numerous set shots for goal, giving up the opportunity to put early scoreboard pressure on the Parrots, and by midway through the quarter, that opportunity was gone.
Liam Serong had the chance to open their account in the first minutes of the game but fired wide.
All wasn’t lost however, with Gull’s sharp-shooter Jed Lamb marking the ball out wide on the lead and slotting the team’s first from an impossibly acute angle.
It was to be the first of five from him on the day, in a tally of 16 goals across the final series, and while he’ll be leaving Warragul to return home to Yarram next year without the ultimate success, he certainly goes with the good wishes of the club.
Warragul continued to pepper the scoring zone, but without further success, allowing Leongatha to get their game going. They didn’t need a second invite.
Pacey Warragul forward, Sam Grummisch, should have kicked their next but another point resulted.
The Parrots settled by then and started finding teammates by hand and foot with the two Heppells, Dyson and Aaron, combining to get the ball to Jenson Garnham, playing high forward. He found Fraser Phillips similarly wide out as Lamb, and not to be outdone, he nailed his shot from a long way out on the boundary as well.
He had their second, on the run, within a minute, and as if to make up for missing with the last kick of the day against Moe the previous week, he bombed from long range, easily the 55 metres from which he’d missed last week, and the Parrots were on their way.
Warragul’s captain Tom Hobbs and Tom Stern replied with more points, while Jenson Garnham, Justin Pellicano and ultimately Zavier Lamers added goals. Tom Hobbs missed another later in the term and they went to quarter time with only 1.5 to show for their efforts while Leongatha had 6.1.
Former Hawthorn premiership player, Warragul’s coach Gary Ayres, preached “pressure, pressure, pressure” at quarter time, but he was clearly acutely aware that the Gulls’ early mistakes could be costly when he urged them to address their mistakes in front of goal in the second quarter.
But it was Leongatha which continued on their merry way, adding six goals straight while Warragul could only manage two, both of them by Lamb.
Effectively it was all over by half time, Leongatha already leading by 50 points.
While the third quarter turned into a dour affair, there was to be no repeat of the heroics of the previous Sunday against Wonthaggi when the Gulls sensationally caught up with Wonthaggi with their last scoring shot of the First Sem-final.
Leongatha named ruckman Jack Sheridan as their best, for the way he set up the win with a dominant display. Midfielders Kim Drew and Aaron Heppell were influential, but so too were Tom Marriott, Dyson Heppell and Luke Bowman, without being named in the best, Jackson Harry in defence, together with Tim Sauvarin, Cade Maskell and new inclusion Jay Walker, Fraser Phillips for a mercurial display up forward and Justin Pellicano for an all-round contribution.
But you could have added a number of others in an impressive hit out by the Parrots.
