A review of all the action from the Smithy’s VFL semi finals.
FIRST SEMI FINAL
GEELONG CATS 2.3 4.6 6.11 7.16 (58)
SOUTHPORT SHARKS 3.1 9.3 10.4 13.9 (87)
Southport overcame the presence of one of Geelong’s all-time greats to dump the Cats out of the Smithy’s VFL premiership race in straight sets with a convincing 29-point victory at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.
Geelong games record holder Tom Hawkins and star midfielder Cam Guthrie lined up for the Cats on the comeback trail from foot and achilles injuries respectively, but they and gun young tall Sam De Koning were unable to make huge impacts as the Sharks blew the game open with a six-goal-to-two second quarter.
The Cats’ defeat was made worse by a fractured skull to premiership forward Gary Rohan.
Rohan copped an accidental knock to the side of the face from Sharks’ 50-gamer Matt McGuinness late in the first quarter and was ruled out with concussion before the more serious damage was discovered in later scans, sending him for surgery.
In warm conditions, it took five minutes for Wylie Buzza to get on the end of a pass and drill a long set shot to get the scoring underway before Ted Clohesy responded in almost identical fashion.
Geelong fans were in raptures when Hawkins took a ball from a boundary throw-in and slotted a trademark 45m goal off the outside of his boot for the Cats’ second, but replying goals from Jacob Heron and Keegan Gray sent the visitors into the first break with a four-point lead.
It was all the spark Southport needed and the Sharks exploded with four goals in five minutes early in the second to grab an advantage they never looked like relinquishing.
Jay Lockhart was in everything and slotted three successive goals in three minutes before Will Derrington added another shortly after.
The teams traded two goals each for the rest of the term and the third turned into an armwrestle with neither able to hit the target until Phoenix Foster broke the 31-minute goal drought as the clock ticked into time-on.
Guthrie then brought it back to 11 points with a calm set shot from 48m, but that was as close as the home side got.
Buzza took a strong contested mark on the behind line and curled the left foot snap home and Hawkins missed a set shot after the three quarter time siren to keep the margin at 17 turning for home.
The contest was done when Boyd Woodcock burnt off Guthrie from the opening centre bounce and bombed it inside 50 where Jack Sexton crumbed and snapped a brilliant small forward’s goal inside 16 seconds.
The Cats did have their chances but sprayed 1.5 for the term including four behinds (two posters) in quick succession to Hawkins, Mitch Knevitt, Oli Wiltshire and Mitch Hardie that all would have expected to kick.
Campbell Lake capitalised on wonderful forward pressure to run into an open goal shortly after to dot the exclamation mark for the Sharks.
Jacob Dawson (27 disposals, 15 contested, nine clearances, seven inside-50s) and Woodcock (22 disposals, 13 contested, five marks) were prominent as always for Southport as they took full toll of Crossley’s ruck dominance.
100-gamer Jacob Heron (15 disposals, six entries, two goals) was damaging on the outside and Jesse Joyce (16 disposals, eight marks) worked hard around the stoppages in a defensive role.
Ben Jepson celebrated his Smithy’s VFL Team of the Year squad selection with 25 touches, seven marks and six rebounds in another excellent showing down back, alongside Nick Williams and 50-gamers Matt Shannon and McGuinness, while Lockhart and Buzza finished with three goals each at the other end.
Knevitt (38 disposals, 23 contested, 13 clearances, 10 tackles, seven entries) was in stunning form for Geelong and couldn’t have done much more to get his team over the line.
Strong midfield support came from Clohesy (25 disposals, 12 contested, eight clearances, one goal) and Hardie (21 disposals, five marks, 2.3), while first-year player Connor O’Sullivan (17 disposals, five marks) was their best defender.
Hawkins finished with 10 disposals, two marks and 1.3 in a quiet but safe outing, Guthrie worked hard for 19 disposals, eight tackles and a goal in his first game since Round 10 to still be one of his team’s best, and De Koning had 17 disposals, six marks and 15 hitouts but lowered his colours to Sharks’ 100-gamer Crossley (16 disposals, seven marks, 44 hitouts).
BEST
Geelong Cats: M. Knevitt, T. Clohesy, C. O’Sullivan, O. Wiltshire, M. Hardie, C. Guthrie
Southport Sharks: J. Joyce, B. Crossley, N. Williams, J. Heron, J. Lockhart, J. Dawson
GOALS
Geelong Cats: P. Foster, M. Hardie 2, T. Clohesy, C. Guthrie, T. Hawkins
Southport Sharks: W. Buzza, J. Lockhart 3, J. Heron 2, W. Derrington, H. Dixon, K. Gray, C. Lake, J. Sexton
SECOND SEMI FINAL
BRISBANE LIONS 5.5 9.8 12.14 19.16 (130)
WILLIAMSTOWN 4.2 9.4 16.4 18.5 (113)
THE Brisbane Lions eliminated Williamstown at the semi final stage for the second year in a row to book another showdown with Werribee in a preliminary final.
The Lions charged over the top of the Seagulls by 17 points in a seesawing shootout in the second semi final at Brighton Homes Arena on Saturday.
The home team had the extra run they needed in the warm conditions to swamp the visitors with a seven-goal last quarter.
That was despite a six-goal masterclass from star Seagulls spearhead Brodie McLaughlin that gave him 14 majors across three finals and saw him fall just one short of a second consecutive 50-goal season,
The signs were good for the home team early when Will McLachlan hit the target inside the opening minute to spark an early run, and his second in the 18th minute put them 33-6 to the good and looking like it was going to be plain sailing.
But Williamstown has never been known to lie down easily and it hit back with the last three goals of the term to get back within nine points.
The Lions kicked two of the first three after the break and seemed to be gaining control again, only for McLaughlin’s second to switch the momentum once more.
The Seagulls booted four unanswered goals to grab the lead for the first time approaching the main break, but Daniel Lloyd and Brandon Ryan responded once again for Brisbane.
Lion fans had their hearts in their mouths and Williamstown supporters watching from home started to dream big when the Seagulls burst out of the half-time break with Corey Ellison snagging his second after just 17 seconds, followed by two more to McLaughlin either side of Nathan Colenso’s second goal.
Henry Smith got one back but Ellison’s third and McLaughlin’s fifth made it six Seagull goals to one in 16 minutes and they had a 24-point lead with a score of 100 on the board that usually spells victory.
The Lions, however, had one more roar in them, with last week’s near hero Darcy Craven kicking a goal, before Ewan Macpherson brought it back to single figures with another.
However, Ellison slammed through his fourth to re-establish a 14-point break as Williamstown turned for home.
The Seagulls asked all the questions, but the Lions had all the answers, and Harry Sharp’s goal in the opening minute of the fourth quarter stirred something in the home team.
Ryan kicked his fourth, McLachlan his third and Sharp a second and then a third to cap a remarkable turnaround.
Williamstown kept throwing punches and McLaughlin made it 6.0 in the 29th minute, but there was to be no second coming for the visitors as they eventually fell to the Lions’ weight of possession.
The home side had the advantage in disposals (399-304), marks (124-70), hitouts (50-30), clearances (56-29) and inside-50s (67-44).
Chief among the reasons for that discrepancy was Jarryd Lyons, the Liston medallist who is among the favourites to go back-to-back on Monday night.
Lyons held back the third-quarter tide with 15 disposals on his way to 39 possessions – 17 of them contested – six marks, five tackles, 11 clearances and 10 inside-50s while only blotting his copybook with 0.3.
Deven Robertson (35 disposals, 17 contested, 11 clearances, seven entries) was similarly prolific, including 12 touches in the first term. Sharp (19 disposals, five marks) was lively on the wing before becoming the match-winner with his three last-quarter goals, Daniel Lloyd (23 disposals, 10 contested, seven marks, one goal) turned back the clock, whille Bruce Reville had nine and a goal in the opening term before finishing with 23.
Jaxon Prior (29 disposals, 11 marks) and Darragh Joyce (21 disposals, 12 marks) were terrific down back and Ryan and McLachlan combined for seven goals.
It wasn’t all good news for the Lions however, with Daniel Lloyd handed a two-match ban with an early plea for a bump on Harry Minton-Connell in time-on of the last quarter.
Meanwhile, Kyle Dunkley is likely to miss the preliminary final after he appeared to be concussed in the opening stages and took no further part in the game, while dominant ruckman Darcy Fort (17 disposals, 33 hitouts, seven clearances) sat out the last term with a leg problem.
McLaughlin and Ellison were instrumental in almost dragging Williamstown over the line, booting 10 goals between them without a miss, with Joel Fitzgerald (23 disposals, 11 contested, six marks, 10 rebounds) having 11 in the first quarter and going on to complete a strong finals series in defence.
Jake Greiser (19 disposals, eight rebounds) also performed well, Colenso (six marks, two goals) was good as the third wheel up forward and Toby Triffett (20 disposals, 13 contested, six clearances) and Riley Collier-Dawkins (19 disposals, 12 contested, seven clearances, one goal) did a lot of grunt work in the middle.
BEST
Brisbane Lions: H. Sharp, J. Lyons, D. Robertson, J. Prior, W. McLachlan, R. Torrent
Williamstown: B. McLaughlin, J. Fitzgerald, C. Ellison, N. Colenso, J. Greiser, J. Brown
GOALS
Brisbane Lions: B. Ryan 4, W. McLachlan, H. Sharp 3, E. Macpherson 2, L. Beecken, D. Craven, L. Hude, D. Lloyd, L. Lloyd, B. Reville, H. Smith
Williamstown: B. McLaughlin 6, C. Ellison 4, J. Brown, N. Colenso 2, R. Collier-Dawkins, N. Ebinger, W. Fordham, C. Rich