QAFL 2024: Morningside secure famous flag as Redland Victoria Point’s wait for a maiden premiership continues
Morningside completed a stunning 12-month turnaround to clinch a famous QAFL flag against a desperate opponent who had made the unbelievable believable, as coach Paul Egan elevated himself to rarefied air.
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You can’t keep a good club down for long.
After missing the QAFL finals last year, Morningside has responded emphatically to scale the premiership mountain, despite a brave and desperate Redland Victoria Point that has made the unbelievable believable willing and willing until the very end.
The stomachs of neutral fans flipped and somersaulted violently as the clock ticked toward full time with just five points separating the sides. It rarely gets better than that.
Morningside clung on for a famous flag, the final score 9.12 (66) to 8.13 (61).
Close finishes were the flavour of the day at Brighton Homes Arena given the reserve and colts premierships were also decided by single-figure margins.
Last week, the Sharks pulled off the unthinkable when Dylan Smith’s last gasp 60m goal crushed Aspley’s three-peat hopes.
Another storied comeback loomed large over the final minutes of this clash, the siren all that could intervene
Fortunately for the Panthers, it did. To their ears, its harsh blare was as sweet a symphony as any.
“(Redland Victoria Point) just kept coming and coming,” said Morningside coach Paul Egan, who spent four years at the Sharks as an assistant when they were in the NEAFL.
“We had the last week off so you would’ve thought we were fresh but to their credit they just dug in and rode the wave of momentum.
“They nearly pulled it off but thankfully they didn’t.
“It was an unbelievable last quarter, the efforts of players on both sides to run and compete was amazing.”
Despite having a slight edge for much of the contest – Egan conceded as much – RVP simply left themselves with too much work to do in the final quarter.
They had been wasteful prior, and went into three-quarter-time trailing by 20 points and having kicked 4.12. They were hanging by a thread at that point, with the margin reaching a game-high 26 points minutes before Clay Cameron’s crucial after-the-siren conversion pulled them back.
In the last quarter however, almost everything the Sharks touched turned to gold. It was a stark turnaround.
Matthew Thomson kicked truly early in the final term, and young Daniel Annable produced a crucial goal. Suddenly the Sharks trailed by eight.
Morningside responded, but two more RVP goals followed. When Matt Hammelmann toe-poked the footy to send it rolling through from a sea of bodies – courtesy of a brilliant tackle from Bailey Reeves to stop Morningside from rushing the ball – a kick was in it.
Lions academy talent Annable was everywhere in the final term. He’s going to be some player.
He threw himself into every contest and spearheaded the Sharks charge. Having already produced a great goal earlier in the quarter, twice he sent a skyward snap tumbling out of the pack and towards goal as minutes faded into seconds, but the Sherrin couldn’t find its way between the posts.
It was a heartbreaking loss for RVP, who have now lost back-to-back grand finals as a maiden QAFL premiership continues to elude its grasp.
Egan credited Morningside’s defence after the triumph, which weathered storm after storm and lived to tell the tale.
“Our backline held up tremendously well and we capitalised when we needed to I suppose,” he said.
“We were just able to get it on the outside a few times, if we’re really honest and look back on the stats they’re probably gonna lead most of the key KPIs for the game, that’s just my gut telling me that.”
There were standouts everywhere you looked for the Panthers.
Jake Godwin kicked three goals in a low-scoring game, and crucially Morningside’s only major of the final term. He’d had several touches in the lead-up and was rewarded for his exceptional workrate as he kept driving forward.
Midfield stud Tommy Horne was awarded the Joe Grant Medal for best-on-ground, he along with Dylan Swann and Kelly Castle rose to the occasion in the second-half.
Mitch Howsen, Zac Straker and Cam Lovig all had their moments down back and prevailed in key one-on-ones, while Garrett McDonagh provided superb drive from the back half and plenty of crucial moments
The performance of 18-year-old Wyatt Greenaway didn’t go unnoticed by Egan, who said he was “great”.
Jacob Lohmann, the older brother of Brisbane’s Kai who had limited opportunity with the Lions VFL outfit this season, showed glimpses of what he can do.
He had his fair share of key involvements in the middle of the ground and when he was forward of the ball he used his body to brilliant effect to take some great marks. It was his finishing that let him down.
The 24-year-old finished with two goals but he could well have had four or five.
“He took a couple of big marks, took some great marks, if he finishes that work he can get himself to the next level,” Egan said.
“He’s a real energy bunny for us and got us up and about, he just couldn’t quite finish the work … if he had have kicked a couple earlier the scoreboard pressure might’ve just dented their momentum.”
Having played in the Panthers’ ‘03 and ‘04 flags, Egan has now entered rarefied air as a club junior who has both played in and coached senior premierships.
“I’ve been supporting Morningside since the ‘80s and playing there forever, as a kid and as a senior player as well, and now to coach us to a premiership, I haven’t thought about it at all from that perspective,” he said.
“Premierships are about the players at the end of the day.”
The milestone came in just his second year at the helm. After a rocky start that saw the club finish ninth last year, he steered them to a commanding 14-4 home and away season and didn’t put a foot wrong throughout the finals.
For all the on-field success the Panthers enjoyed this year, Egan believes it was the off-field work undertaken that paved the way.
“You’ve just got to get the off-field right and get the right people in the right spots off the field,” he said.
“We were in turmoil a couple of years ago, but we got the right pieces of the puzzle off the field, and a few recruits along the way as all sides have done.
“But they’ve got to gel and they’ve got to be connected. It might seem a really simple old school philosophy but if they don’t want to work hard for each other and have each other’s back on the field, it’s hard to work well on the field.
“We got that off-field part right with some old Panther values.”
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