Goodwood Saints dedicate premiership to ex-teammate Shane Tuck who died suddenly this year
‘No doubt he would be looking down and be very proud’: an emotional Goodwood coach dedicates top tier flag win over Rostrevor Old Collegians to former teammate and Tigers star Shane Tuck.
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Goodwood Saints coach Luke Donaldson says ex-teammate Shane Tuck must have been watching over his side as it went on to claim the Adelaide Footy League division one flag by 24 points on Sunday.
The Saints held off an enormous charge from ROC in the final term to prevail 9.12 (66) to 6.6 (42) in the flag decider at Norwood Oval.
Tuck, who died suddenly in July, featured alongside Donaldson in the Saints’ last premierships when they won back-to-back top tier flags in 2014 and 2015.
Ahead of the match against ROC, the first-year mentor said his players would use Tuck’s legacy as inspiration and his most memorable quotes were stuck on the changerooms walls.
“No doubt he (Tuck) would be looking down and be very proud,” Donaldson said.
“There’s a lot of drive in this playing group and this is the start of something special.
“It was incredible, such a hard-fought win.”
Goodwood Saints set up the victory by kicking six unanswered goals in the second term to take a 29-point lead into half-time after being down by 13 at quarter-time.
Frazer Goodes booted three out of those six majors, Jacob Hughes kicked two and Levi Elms added the other.
But ROC refused to give up and were sparked by the work rate of player/coach Will O’Malley.
They booted three unanswered goals in the third quarter through Stefan Lanzoni, Patrick Dawson and Nick Murphy to cut the margin to just 12 points at the last change.
Dylan Reinbrecht slotted the first goal of the final stanza with a quick snap to put ROC just four points behind.
The Saints’ hunger then went up a notch and their pressure increased.
Ben Holzbauer quickly responded for Goodwood, giving his side a 10-point buffer before Goodes (four goals) iced the game with three minutes remaining.
It capped an incredible season for the Saints, who started the season with three straight losses before winning the remaining six to finish second.
They earned a flag decider berth by beating top-placed St Peter’s Old Collegians in the semi-final a fortnight ago.
Goodwood star Nick Burgess (two goals) was awarded the best-on-ground medal.
“We knew ROC would never stop coming,” Donaldson said.
“But our guys were just incredible, as they have been all year.”
It is the second time in six years Goodwood has beaten ROC in a grand final, having proven too strong when the sides clashed in the 2014 flag decider.
ROC last won the top tier flag in 2017 when they triumphed over Payneham Norwood Union by 37 points and also made the 2018 grand final but were beaten by Tea Tree Gully.
O’Malley said the second-term fade out was what cost his side this year’s flag.
“Well done to Goodwood, you outworked us in that second quarter,” O’Malley said.
“It obviously wasn’t the result we wanted today but that’s footy unfortunately, and we’ll go back to the drawing board.”