Between a rock and a VFL grand final

by Vin Maskell

After Williamstown’s lame loss last Saturday in the VFL preliminary final against Northern Bullants I went looking for a big rock.

I figured if I banged my head against a big rock long enough the memory of the game would disappear.

So I went down to the Williamstown ground and found a big mound of big rocks at about centre-half-forward at the Point Gellibrand end of the oval.

The rocks are part of 18 months of earthworks and ground resurfacing that began in August and should be completed for the start of the 2012 season.

By then I may have forgotten that the Seagulls have now lost four preliminary finals in the past five years. (Last year they went out in straight sets, losing the qualifying final and semi-final.)

By 2012 I may have forgotten that even though Willi were leading by a goal at half -time against the Northern Bullants the atmosphere amongst the Seagulls supporters at the Box Hill city Oval was flat as a tack. (Our reserves had lost their grand final earlier in the day, to Box Hill, so that would explain the sense of torpor, of deflation.)

We’d been spoilt, of course. The seniors had only lost three games throughout the season, by a combined total of eight points. Our average winning margin was about eight goals. So we were in foreign territory. (Not much of an excuse, really.)

Northern Bullants fan may disagree but it wasn’t much of a spectacle, and not much of an advertisement for VFL football. Lord knows what it looked like on the telly, as player from both sides fumbled and fiddled and fart-arsed around for much of the day.

The Bullants (Carlton seconds) dominated the ruck and subsequently its fleet-footed smaller players left the Willi players floundering in their wake.

Williamstown rallied about ten minutes into the last quarter but by then they were 40 points down. They got to within 14 points before losing by 26 points.

Next week’s grand final will be between last year’s grand finalists: North Ballarat, which defeated Box Hill in its preliminary final and  is looking for a third consecutive flag, and Northern Bullants, who are hoping to win the flag for the first time since 1984, when they were known as Preston.

The game will be at Etihad Stadium on Sunday 19 September. I might still be banging my head on the big rocks at the Williamstown ground.

About Vin Maskell

Founder and editor of Stereo Stories, a partner site of The Footy Almanac. Likes a gentle kick of the footy on a Sunday morning, when his back's not playing up. Been known to take a more than keen interest in scoreboards - the older the better.

Comments

  1. Commiserations Vin

    Though I must confess to being pleased to see the Blues magoos win.

    As I live near Ballarat, I can’t lose on the 19th.

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