YOU could buy a ‘spacious 4-bedroom brick veneer home’ in Wonthaggi for $259,000, the Wonthaggi windfarm was under construction and Gippsland Power, featuring the likes of Daisy Thomas, Scott Pendlebury and a young Beau Vernon, won the TAC Cup premiership.
It was September 2005 and a talent-stacked Wonthaggi Power team won the Alberton Senior Grand Final by 21 points, in their first year in the league.
Not that Fish Creek weren’t equally well resourced with the likes of Travis Manne, Cameron Brown, Marshall Livingstone, Caine Salmon, Gary Hoskin, Ash Milligan and Brock Anderson on their list. But with the likes of Justin Bright, Adam Mabilia, Andrew Sorenson, Tom Wells, Aaron Ware, Ross Lovett and co to call on, they looked at least a match for the benchmark team of the local competition.
But it was Fish Creek which started best, leading by two goals at quarter time and a goal at the half in a low-scoring affair. Everything was set up for a classic last quarter with only three point in it at last change.
Adam Mabilia got Wonthaggi going with the first goal of the last quarter and a minute later Ashley Beaumont kicked another, his third for the day. But Fish Creek were far from finished and added the replies through Manne and Salmon to close the gap once more.
The cup was anyone’s until Wonthaggi strung the next three goals together, through Adam Sadler, Tim Gilliland and finally Ben Young with the sealer, at the 28-minute mark to kick off the celebrations.
And not forgetting the two goals-in-a-row by Ben Young late in the third quarter which put the premiership in reach.
Last Saturday, 20 years on from that famous victory, a big contingent of players from that team returned to relive past glories and forget present-day realities for a while.
They were joined by the fourths premiers of that year, led by an emerging Jarryd Blair in an all-the-way win over Inverloch-Kongwak. Lasting friendships were forged in that campaign that remain today although the cup they won and the pennant presented to the club later, have apparently gone missing. Where are the trophies from Wonthaggi’s Fourths Premiership of 2005? Maybe you can help.
