Burnie’s return to the NWFL ranks in 2018 has resulted in the ultimate prize after they defeated reigning premiers Ulverstone by 16 points in Saturday’s grand final at Latrobe.
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Following a titanic struggle in the opening half, where both sides were unable to kick away when they had the help of a strong wind, it was the Robins who looked to have set up a potentially match-winning advantage when they broke out to a 20-point lead midway through the third quarter.
But with their season on the line, the Dockers lifted and kicked three goals in the final seven minutes of the term, including two to the league’s leading goalkicker in Harry Walters, to trim the margin back to two points at the final change and build some serious momentum.
Both sides were unable gain the ascendancy in the opening stages of the fourth quarter before Burnie hit the lead for the first time since the early part of the first quarter after a goal from James Dowling.
That kick-started another run of goals by the minor premiers through Dylan Smith and Bailey Boag to quickly extend the lead to 14 points at the 16-minute mark.
Ulverstone pulled the margin back to nine points at the 21-minute mark thanks to a goal from Brandon Howard to offer hope to its fans.
But it evaporated five minutes later when Brayden Hayes sealed the game for Burnie after his second goal of the day, with the final siren sounding soon after to give the Dockers a 10.14 (74) to 8.10 (58) triumph and their sixth NWFL flag.
Nick McKenna took out the Wayne Wing Medal for best afield after rucking all day and giving his midfielders first use of the ball as they made their charge in the third quarter.
McKenna’s cause was helped when Ulverstone ruckman John Holland broke his arm early in the second quarter after making contact with McKenna’s head in a ruck contest.
Victorious coach Brent Plant admitted that he was slightly worried about the scoreline during the third term as Ulverstone surged but refused to panic as he knew his team would be fit enough to run the game out well.
“We moved Harry Walters into the middle and he created a spark for us,” he said.
“Getting the last goal of the third quarter was also important because it gave our boys confidence.
“We knew our skills were good enough, but we had a loss to Wynyard in round 12 that showed we needed more run, and what we have done in the last eight weeks is approached it with a TSL mentality with extra training.”
Ulverstone coach Jamie Hayward was left to pick up the pieces after seeing the dream back-to-back flags disappear for his side.
“I thought the key moment in the game was the last 10 minutes of the third quarter – we were on the verge of breaking it open and one or two more goals would have done that,” he said.
“But we gave up three goals, which in the end hurt us because I confident we could have defended a three or four goal lead.”