EDFL 2019: Sunbury Kangaroos complete perfect season with flag
Sunbury Kangaroos overcame a quality opponent and a battle with injury to claim a senior premiership in their first season in the EDFL, with coach Anthony Leydin declaring it a “special year”.
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Sunbury Kangaroos overcame a potentially crippling injury toll to taste premiership glory in their maiden season in the Essendon District Football League.
The patched-up Kangaroos, hot favourites to claim the Division 2 ultimate prize since pre-season, defeated a stubborn Moonee Valley by 16 points in Saturday’s grand final at Windy Hill.
Coach Anthony Leydin said he experienced a mixture of relief and euphoria in the aftermath and did not hide his admiration for his players.
After an undefeated home-and-away season and major semi-final win, few expected the Kangaroos to not complete a perfect 2019 in the decider.
But the Kangaroos’ preparation for the final match of the year was far from perfect.
They were the walking wounded, with star forward Josh Burgess forced to watch on and spearhead Lachie Baddeley appearing hampered.
Mick Kilty and David House were also under injury clouds.
“It’s been a big couple of weeks for us. We’ve had probably half-a-dozen blokes in and out of hospital or on crutches or unlikely to play, then likely, then unlikely,” Leydin said.
“So it was a really brave effort.
“I know we were expected to win, being undefeated, but I don’t think most people realised the challenges we had during the week.
“We couldn’t even pick our team until late Friday night, which isn’t ideal, but that was the circumstance.
“Really proud of the guys to stay focused and get the job done against a great deal of adversity. It was a great effort.”
Leydin declared it a “special year”, with the club earning promotion at its first attempt after making the move from the RDFL.
The Kangaroos trailed by two goals at quarter-time before piling on 6.9 to 1.0 in the second term with the aid of the breeze to establish a 27-point advantage.
At the main break, it appeared the best team in Division 2 would cruise to the finish line, but the Valley refused to go quietly.
Shanon Carroll’s men responded with a five-goal-to-one third quarter to take a one-point advantage into the final change.
But the safety net was not significant enough as the Kangaroos powered to a 12.15 (87) to 11.5 (71) win.
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While Moonee Valley lost no admirers, it was going to take something remarkable to stop the EDFL’s newest club from hoisting the silverware.
“I’d been pretty nervous most of the week,” Leydin said.
“It sort of surprised me a little bit because I’ve been around for a bit and I can’t recall a time where I was more nervous.
“The stakes were pretty high. Had we lost, we stay in Division 2, and we were hell-bent on getting into Division 1. Thankfully that’s what’s transpired.
“It’s really rewarding seeing the joy on people’s faces, players and supporters, and knowing you played a small part in contributing to that is really fulfilling.”
Big man Brenton Sutherland claimed the medal for best afield after another dominant display, while Leydin rated Kangaroos captain Daniel Gregory as “arguably best on ground”.
The star defender nailed a goal from outside the 50m arc in the second quarter to strengthen his case.
Jake Young and John Corso bagged three majors apiece, while the ever-consistent Matt Quigley and Tierone Cuffe were influential in the midfield.
“The longer the game went, the more his influence started to tell,” Leydin said of Sutherland, who is a strong chance to claim his third consecutive club best-and-fairest award.
“Overhead he was really strong, a good target, and just worked really hard.
“He probably did 85-90 per cent of the ruck work on his own, as I’m sure (Moonee Valley’s Luke) Egan did as well. It was a good duel, but our bloke probably had a few advantages that made the difference.”
Leydin said planning for Division 1 would start in “a couple of weeks”.
When asked if he was locked in to continue as coach next season, Leydin said: “We obviously wanted to see if we could get them to Division 1, which we have, and that’s a discussion for another time.”
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