Seagulls down dogs for premiership glory

By Aiden Box

WITH storylines aplenty leading in, the minor premier Seagulls met the back-to-back reigning premier Bulldogs who came into the day’s showcase on the back of their incredible Preliminary Final win, full of belief. 

If any team was going to knock off the almighty Seagulls in 2022, it would be the boys from ‘the kennel’ the only team to do so this season. 

As the rain cleared and the crowd gathered around the beautifully maintained Garfield ground, the teams battled it out for a scoreless first eight minutes, as they both settled into the contest. 

Tooradin-Dalmore looked committed to controlling possession and cutting angles by foot, playing an uncontested and methodical game early, while the ‘Dogs looked to go faster and more direct. 

The ‘Gulls finally broke through with the game’s first major, ending the stalemate after almost 10 minutes. 

However, Island were good enough to reply with a spectacular running finish from outside 50 off the boot of Cameron Brown. 

Despite Tooradin-Dalmore controlling the majority of the play, Cameron Pedersen was putting together a brilliant performance for ‘the Island’ intercepting and creating plenty of plays. 

The Seagulls continued to press though, and Blake Grewar’s pressure ensured they generated plenty of scoring opportunities as big Piva Wright proved to be an absolute force at centre half forward.

The Bulldogs had momentum, belief and history on their side coming in, but even that wasn’t quite enough to stop the force that was the 2022 Seagulls who used their trademark slick play, pressure and run to kick away in the second and third terms. 

Their excellent skills, especially by foot allowed their forwards to dine out, including Julian Suarez who had an absolute feast, booting a bag of five goals on the back of some superb forward craft. 

The men in red and green poured on 10 goals five after quarter time, as the strong and experienced ‘Island back six battled to stop the onslaught. 

They maintained their five-goal buffer after establishing it at half time and went on to claim the premiership by a resounding 46-points. 

The Seagulls complete the minor premiership and premiership double, dropping just the one game for the entire season, and incredible run to raise their first flag in 25 years, simply a class above in 2022. 

Tooradin-Dalmore become just the third club to hoist the senior trophy after Inverloch Kongwak claimed the first in 2017 and Phillip Island went back-to-back in 2018 and 2019. 

The Bulldogs unfortunate loss shows just how tough it is to go three from three, regardless, it caps off a remarkable season of perseverance in what could be legendary head coach Beau Vernon’s last. 

Congratulations to Tooradin-Dalmore, the 2022 WGFNC senior premiers! 

Seagulls big man and fan favourite Piva Wright received the best on ground medal.