Bridgenorth laid down its grand final credentials in the premiership quarter on Saturday that is now one win away from becoming reality.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A clinical five-goal victory over a lethargic Longford at Youngtown has secured the Parrots their first grand final appearance since 2015.
But its the sipping out of the premiership cup for the first time in nine years that fledgling coach Brady Demeijer will have his side quenching their thirst over.
Six Parrots are set to bring NTFA Premier League grand final nous to a team missing from the final five last year including club veterans Luke Duncan, Nick Mcelwee, Jake Nunn and Darren Long that still remain since last tasting the ultimate success in 2010.
"We have plenty of grand final experience that we'll be able to learn off them in the next two weeks and just make sure we come best prepared," Demeijir said.
Bridgenorth piled on six unanswered goals through the third quarter to blow out a one-point lead at half-time out to 40 in the shadows of three-quarter time.
That burst proved the clear difference in the semi-final towards Bridgenorth holding off any serious challenge all day from Longford for a 12.11 (83) to 7.11 (53) win.
"We talked about at half-time what this quarter would mean for us," Demeijir said.
"If we really bring it, pile the goals on, the pressure would come on them. Credit to the boys, they did everything we asked of them."
Ollie Wood was a target in front of Bridgenorth's goals, the tall forward replicating the first two of the term from strong grabs and long kicks.
The match started to get away from the Tigers after Adam Dickenson in textbook manner crumbed the pack and quickly snapped to extend the lead to 22 points.
Rohan Sergeant continued to trouble Longford's backline, like Woods kicking two on the trot for 4.3 on the day.
The first of the back-to-back goals four minutes apart was little more than regulation, but the next was innovative in the air off a teammate's misfired handball.
Wood fresh off a spell on the bench since his earlier goals added a third to make it six inside 17 minutes.
TIME TO DECIDE:
- Q&A: Chris Fagan on Tasmania's bid for an AFL team
- Tasmanian AFL team: Getting the economics right
- Footy pathway needs earlier start: Sanders
- Time for Tas to sever team ties, says former AFL boss
- Editorial: Now is the time to believe
- AFL bid is now or never
- Do you support a Tasmanian AFL team? Sign the pledge here
"Finals footy is a different game - the pressure goes up. You have to win your one on ones more," Demeijir said.
"You do that, you get the ball to your forwards and you have a 50-50 chance, and that's massive - we did that all day. We pushed them and they weren't exactly used to that kind of pressure."
The margin had seemed so great that Jackson Blair's face-saving goal that at least reduced the three-quarter time deficit to 34 points was little more than a distraction than the start to a comeback.
Every Longford goal of the final term after that was quickly matched by another from Bridgenorth.
Tigers coach Beau Thorpe could not hide his disappointment afterwards.
"Something that we really pride ourselves on this year is our effort and pressure - it just wasn't there," Thorp said.
"It was non-existent and you could tell the guys were really flat from the get-go."
Thorp's sheer frustration became apparent in the final minutes when he flattened an unsuspecting Wood.
The actions drew the ire of some fans and Parrots big man Rohan Bones, who was sent off over retaliation.
The Tigers were made to look sluggish all day and lost their structure through the midfield into the defence.
"To Bridgenorth's credit, they had the ball rolling from last week and they really just kept rolling," Thorp said.
Longford looked to suffer from match practice after having the first week of finals off and the bye before that.
Thorpe said some in the seniors had nearly a month off before the semi-final.
"I am not making excuses and I'm not one to make excuses, but it was evident with all three of our teams that you could tell we have not played for weeks," he said.
Do you know a junior sports star who calls Northern Tasmania home? Nominate them today.
While you're with us, did you know that you can now sign up to receive breaking news updates direct to your inbox? Sign up here.
Subscriptions are available here.