TWENTY-TWO men and a prodigiously talented boy will go down in history as the first players to deliver silverware to the glitter strip after the Gold Coast Suns outlasted Werribee in a high-class Smithy’s VFL Grand Final at IKON Park on Sunday.
The Suns claimed their first premiership in their 14-year history after seeing off a determined challenge from the Tigers and one of the great Grand Final performances from Shaun Mannagh to win 17.10 (112) to 14.9 (93).
Mannagh was sublime in booting six goals from 27 disposals to claim the Norm Goss Medal for best afield and did everything in his power to deliver Werribee its first flag in 30 years.
However, the Suns simply had too much firepower all over the ground and particularly in their spearhead-stacked forward line.
Gold Coast had avenues to goal everywhere, with Mabior Chol kicking four and joint Frosty Miller medallists Chris Burgess and Brodie McLaughlin three each, while 2020 No.7 draft pick Elijah Hollands proved he was made for the big stage with a brilliant 33 disposals, eight clearances, 10 tackles and six rebounds that would surely have impressed new AFL coach Damien Hardwick.
Werribee had much more of the ball than the Suns, winning the disposal count 367-294, marks 97-65, clearances 50-38 and inside-50 entries 52-47 but Gold Coast was well drilled and cleaner with ball in hand.
Burgess was outstanding early and Joel Jeffrey (21 disposals, six marks, eight rebounds) composed across half-back as a vast majority of Tiger possessions were under pressure.
Ned Moyle was always going to get hands on the ball first in the ruck contest, but even he couldn’t have expected to win a crazy 73 hitouts to go with 12 touches and seven clearances.
Kobe Annand (22 hitouts, 11 disposals, eight tackles) battled hard and reduced Moyle’s impact in general play.
Suns full-back Caleb Graham only picked up seven disposals, but his effort in ensuring Werribee talls Hudson Garoni and Sam Paea managed just 15 touches and two goals between them was crucial, while Connor Blakely (18 disposals, five clearances, nine tackles) provided strong leadership in his final game.
The Tigers had 11 of the top 14 ball winners on the ground, and it was their leaders who did their best to turn the tide.
Matt Hanson (31 disposals, 10 clearances, 11 tackles, six entries, one goal) and Tom Gribble (29 disposals, seven marks, eight tackles) worked overtime at the coalface, as did Dom Brew who laid16 tackles.
Kye Declase (28 disposals, eight marks, six clearances, six entries, one goal), Jack Henderson (24 disposals, five tackles, one goal) and Fothergill-Round-Mitchell medallist Sam Clohesy (22 disposals, seven marks, six rebounds) could hold their heads high.
Continue for a quarter-by quarter breakdown of the action:
FIRST QUARTER
The Suns flew out of the blocks, winning the clearances and showing the Tigers a clean pair of heels to kick the first two goals via Burgess and Chol, with the latter the beneficiary of a terrific piece of vision and pass from Burgess.
But the Tigers soon settled and grabbed the upper hand around the ball and livewire wingman Mannagh bombed a terrific drop punt from 50m before running onto a wonky snap from Garoni to throw his boot at the ball in mid-air and kick his second a couple of minutes late to take the lead.
Werribee had suffered a blow before the game when Connor Thar succumbed to a back injury in the pre-match and was replaced by Harry Grintell, who started the game strongly with the opening scoring shot and proved lively around the contest.
The loss was balanced out midway through the term when Suns defender Jake Stein, who had missed just one match with a knee injury, was carried off with the same problem as Burgess’ fellow Frosty winner Brodie McLaughlin bounced through a long goal to regain the advantage.
Grintell sent the footy forward for Garoni to mark at the top of the goalsquare for his first but Burgess won a free kick for a push against Louis Pinnuck in the dying stages to give the Suns a seven-point lead at quarter-time.
SECOND QUARTER
As in the first term, Gold Coast started the better after the break but couldn’t put the score on the board before Werribee grabbed control, with Grintell and Hayes narrowly missing shots before Mannagh cleverly put one on the outside of his boot for his third.
The Tigers dominated general play for the next 15 minutes but didn’t make the Suns pay, although Jack Henderson got on the end of a dashing transition off half-back to give them the lead heading towards time on.
But it is impossible to stop Gold Coast getting a run on for an entire match and the Suns exploded in time-on with four goals in six minutes.
An opportunistic snap from McLaughlin, a brilliant handball from Burgess to a streaming Campbell Lake and contested marks to Burgess and Day helped turn an eight-point deficit into a 16-point lead in the blink of an eye.
The red-hot Mannagh drilled his fourth from a 50m set shot to get one back and the siren narrowly beat an accurate shot from Grintell as the Tigers stopped the avalanche and kept the deficit to 10 points at the main change.
THIRD QUARTER
Momentum is a marvellous thing and when a team like the Suns gets a sniff, it is extremely hard to stop.
They exploded out of half-time, completely shutting Werribee out of the contest as Chol and Alex Sexton made it an imposing margin with early goals before Jared Eckersley saved a certain goal with a great tackle on Garoni.
Bodhi Uwland went onto Mannagh and shut him out for the first 20 minutes of the quarter as 16-year-old wunderkind Leo Lombard drilled a pass into McLaughlin for his third before Chol matched him after a one-on-one contested grab against Nathan Cooper in the goal square to push the margin to 37 points.
With prime mover Michael Sodomaco on the bench with heavy strapping on his troublesome right hamstring, Declase stepped through traffic and kicked a marvellous goal to stop the rot before a quality Gribble handball through traffic helped set up a goal to Grintell to cut the margin back to 26.
Day got on the end of a great burst as the siren sounded, but his shot sailed wide to keep the Tigers in with a fleeting chance.
FOURTH QUARTER
Werribee’s fleeting chance looked real when Mannagh burst from a stoppage and drilled his fifth before Grintell snapped a beauty after roving the pack to cut the margin to 15 points.
However, the Suns had the immediate response when Jeremy Sharp sidestepped Bior Malual and swung a long one through on the right to restore parity.
Sodomaco returned but went deep into the forward line where he missed a snap, while Coughlan was hampered late by a quad issue and Declase had his calf heavily strapped.
When Alex Sexton showed his class by wheeling onto his right from 50m before Day bombed one long into the goal square for Chol to shepherd through, the margin was back out to five goals and the flag was heading north.
Werribee still refused to give up, with Sam Paea and Keegan Gray cutting the margin to 19, only for Chol to boot his fourth from a free kick and Lombard to send the Suns fans into raptures with a late snap in party time.
Mannagh marked on the lead and kicked his sixth in the 35th minute to complete a stunning performance and Matt Hanson nailed a set shot after the final siren, but it was party time for Gold Coast by then.
GOLD COAST SUNS 4.2, 8.3, 12.8, 17.10 (112)
WERRIBEE 3.1, 6.5, 8.5, 14.9 (93)
BEST
GOLD COAST SUNS: E. Hollands, N. Moyle, C. Burgess, M. Chol, J. Jeffrey, C. Graham, C. Blakely
WERRIBEE: S. Mannagh, M. Hanson, S. Clohesy, J. Henderson, D. Brew, T. Gribble, K. Declase
GOALS
GOLD COAST SUNS: M. Chol 4, C. Burgess, B. McLaughlin 3, S. Day, A. Sexton 2, C. Lake, L. Lombard, J. Sharp
WERRIBEE: S. Mannagh 6, H. Grintell 2, K. Declase, H. Garoni, K. Gray, M. Hanson, J. Henderson, S. Paea
NORM GOSS MEDAL VOTING
Paul Amy – CODE Sports
3 - Shaun Mannagh (WER)
2 - Elijah Hollands (GCS)
1 - Ned Moyle (GCS)
Campbell Brown – Channel 7
3 - Shaun Mannagh (WER)
2 - Elijah Hollands (GCS)
1 - Chris Burgess (GCS)
Josh Fraser – Collingwood Football Club
3 - Elijah Hollands (GCS)
2 - Shaun Mannagh (WER)
1 - Ned Moyle (GCS)
Jennie Loughnan - AFL
3 - Shaun Mannagh (WER)
2 - Elijah Hollands (GCS)
1 - Ned Moyle (GCS)
Total
11 - Shaun Mannagh (WER)
9 - Elijah Hollands (GCS)
3 - Ned Moyle (GCS)
1 - Chris Burgess (GCS)
