WERRIBEE ended an agonising 31-year wait that featured four Grand Final heartbreaks to finally lift its second premiership cup with an epic six-point victory over the Southport Sharks in the Smithy’s VFL Grand Final.

When Sharks forward Hugh Dixon kicked the opening goal of the third term the Tigers were 19 points down in the first premiership decider between two standalone clubs since the AFL-aligned teams came into the competition in 2000.

But Norm Goss medallist Jack Henderson and injury returnee Angus Hicks lifted their team on their shoulders.

Not only did they drag Werribee back into the game, they took total control.

The comeback began when Henderson won a free kick and dobbed a ripping set shot from outside 50.

Zac Banch then stuck a huge tackle on the wing and bombed it long for Jay Dahlhaus to expertly rove a marking contest for his first goal, before Hicks showed wonderful composure to find Henderson for another booming strike from outside 50 to level the scores.

Werribee had the lead for the first time since the 12-minute mark of the opening quarter when Hicks won another contested possession and delivered a terrific kick to the previously unsighted Hudson Garoni and there was nothing Matt McGuinness could do to avoid giving away a free kick.

Seven points up at three quarter-time, the Tigers appeared certain victors when a quick kick forward from Dom Brew was dropped by the otherwise magnificent McGuinness and Dahlhaus bounced his way to the goal square.

That was followed by Cooper Whyte intercepting a Ben Jepson kick in and Sam Paea finally getting off the leash to mark and goal, giving the Tigers seven goals in a row and a 26-point lead at the 11-minute mark.

But the Sharks got to this point by never being beaten and they rallied with Dixon standing up in a tackle and setting up Matt Shannon to break a 46-minute goal drought in the 18th minute, and when Jay Lockhart snapped truly 90 seconds later it was game on again.

Jack Riding (1.4) missed a snap to seal it, Boyd Woodcock matched that miss at the other end and a long bomb from Brayden Crossley just found the fingertips of Stefan Radovanovic on the goal line.

The margin was cut to six points when Jacob Dawson – not known for his goal kicking but brilliant at everything else – booted a great running goal to set up a grandstand finish.

Werribee did everything it could to shut the game down but there was one more big moment with seconds left when a long bomb forward saw Wylie Buzza fly over the pack and go within inches of pulling in a spectacular mark that would have seen him kick after the siren.

But it didn’t quite stick and seconds later came the equal parts of jubilation, exhaustion and devastation that come with the end of a thrilling season climax.

Henderson started on Woodcock and held the Sharks’ star early before Jake Smith and Cooper Whyte took over that job.

The Norm Goss Medal winner was consistent without being dominant in the first half but turned it on in the third quarter when he picked up 10 disposals and booted the two clutch goals from long range.

He finished with 23 disposals (10 contested), seven marks, five clearances, eight tackles, five inside-50s and two goals, while Hicks overcame a quiet first half in his first game back from a seven-week hamstring injury to have 19 touches and five marks.

Brew and Dawson turned on an epic heavyweight battle in the middle of the field with each seemingly tagging the other at times, and both worked through the attention to finish in the best three players on the ground.

The Liston Trophy winner had a stunning 27 contested possessions among his 30 disposals, plus 15 clearances and eight tackles in a tireless effort, while Dawson had 29 touches (12 contested), five tackles and two goals and would have been a worthy Norm Goss Medal winner had Southport got over the line.

For the Tigers, Louis Pinnuck (24 disposals, five marks, six rebounds) and Jesse Clark (24 disposals, 11 marks) were sensational in defence.

Riley Bice overcame some close attention from the Sexton brothers to contribute 23 possessions, six marks and eight rebounds and was particularly important in the last quarter, while Nathan Cooper (eight marks) kept Dixon quiet for most of the day and the opportunistic Dahlhaus booted two crucial majors.

Woodcock was watched closely all day and didn’t touch the ball until the 11-minute mark of the opening term but worked through that through sheer effort to finish with 22 disposals (13 contested), six clearances and a remarkable 19 tackles to prove his undoubted class.

McGuinness completely blanketed Garoni, with the Tiger spearhead not touching the ball in the front half of the ground until his go-ahead goal late in the third term.

Meanwhile, Crossley (69 hitouts, 12 tackles, eight inside-50s) was clearly the best man on the ground at half-time before Aidan Johnson went to him with the sole role of nullifying the influence of his hitouts to advantage – a job he did extremely well with the help of Sam Conway, who also lifted.

Southport will be left to rue its inaccuracy, missing several gettable shots in the first quarter as they went to that break with 2.7 on the board and leading by only five points, with Werribee’s two goals coming from stunning running bombs outside 50 by Flynn Young and Banch.

The Sharks also controlled the second term, keeping Werribee scoreless until a miscommunication allowed Riding to run into an open goal in the 30th minute.

That goal and an almighty half-time spray from coach Jimmy Allan had the desired effect as the Tigers surged to a lead that the visitors, try as they might, weren’t able to haul in.

For the Tigers, it helps ease the pain of Grand Final defeats in 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2023, while Southport didn’t lose any admirers as it continued a remarkable run with a 25th Grand Final in the past 41 years in all competitions to prove it well and truly belongs in the VFL.

Werribee   2.2        3.2        7.5        10.9 (69)
Southport Sharksvvv2.7        4.9        5.10     8.15 (63)

BEST
Werribee: J. Henderson, D. Brew, A. Hicks, L. Pinnuck, J. Clark, A. Johnson, R. Bice, N. Cooper
Southport Sharks: J. Dawson, B. Crossley, M. McGuinness, B. Woodcock, J. Edwards

GOALS
Werribee: J. Dahlhaus, J. Henderson 2, Z. Banch, H. Garoni, J. Riding, S. Paea, C. Whyte, F. Young
Southport Sharks – J. Dawson, H. Dixon 2, J. Lockhart, J. Sexton, M. Shannon.

NORM GOSS MEDAL
Jennie Loughnan (AFL Head of State Leagues)
3) Jack Henderson (Wer)
2) Jacob Dawson (Sou)
1) Dom Brew (Wer)

Zane Littlejohn (Box Hill Hawks and VFL State Team coach)
3) Jack Henderson (Wer)
2) Dom Brew (Wer)
1) Jacob Dawson (Sou)

Andrew McCormack (Channel 7)
3) Jack Henderson (Wer)
2) Jacob Dawson (Sou)
1) Dom Brew (Wer)

Joe Pignataro (AFL Media)
3) Dom Brew (Wer)
2) Jack Henderson (Wer)
1) Jacob Dawson (Sou)

Total
11) Jack Henderson (Wer)
7) Dom Brew (Wer)
6) Jacob Dawson (Sou)