Romsey claims back-to-back premierships in RDFL with upset win over Diggers Rest
ROMSEY overcame a premiership hangover and a raft of player departures last summer to record back-to-back premierships on Sunday.
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ROMSEY was far from confident about its 2015 premiership chances back in March.
The club had lost nine 2014 premiership players over the off-season and a premiership hangover was there for all to see as training standards slipped.
Everyone was talking about Diggers Rest, Broadford and Macedon as the contenders in the Riddell District Football League this year, but that didn’t worry the Redbacks.
“I’m just trying to control what I can control,” Romsey coach Dean Helmers said in March.
“I’m not looking at premierships at this stage. I just want to get as much into the young blokes as I can and if we put it all together and they all learn the game plan, anything’s possible.”
Helmers was able to work wonders with a new-look squad, which became just the second team since the new millennium to go back-to-back in the RDFL with a 15.19 (109) to 14.15 (99) triumph over Diggers Rest in Sunday’s grand final.
Only nine of the 22 players who took to the field for Romsey were members of last year’s premiership-winning side.
Most had come through the Redbacks’ junior program.
Half were 24 years old or under.
“We thought that rather than race out and recruit for the sake of it, we’ll put special interest into the young blokes and the locals and we did that,” Helmers said after his side’s success.
Diggers Rest had been favourite entering the decider.
It had beaten Romsey by 21 points in its semi-final two weeks earlier to earn a week’s rest and a direct passage to the last game of the year.
But the Burras again failed to deliver on the big stage, dropping a third-straight grand final.
It had all started well for Shaun Sims’ side.
Kicking against the breeze, Diggers Rest did all the attacking early and led by nine points midway through the opening term.
But Romsey took complete control in the next 30 minutes.
The Redbacks kicked eight of the next nine goals to open a 39-point lead at the 10-minute-mark of the second quarter.
A blowout looked to be on the cards, but the Burras were not about to roll over.
Led by three second-quarter goals from captain Stuart Clarke, Diggers Rest clawed its way back to close the gap to two points early in the third term.
Despite the breeze dropping off after halftime, that momentum swung again.
Romsey co-captain Stephen Burlak was thrown forward and had an immediate impact, kicking two goals in as many minutes to give his team another spark.
Tired legs only further exposed Diggers Rest’s lack of speed as Romsey’s youth made the most of the big ground, finding space and linking up well.
By three-quarter time, the Redbacks boasted a game-high 41-point lead.
The Burras battled hard in the final quarter and gave themselves a sniff, but the mountain proved too great to climb.
Helmers was quick to credit players after the match.
Romsey president Wayne Milburn was quick to credit the coach.
“That’s why Dean’s No. 1,” he said.
“He gets the boys to perform. They will sing and dance for him if that’s what he wants them to do.”
Midfielders Chris Burkett and Jack O’Sullivan were recognised for their efforts with best-on-ground medals in addition to their premiership medallions.
Ruckman Ben Way worked tirelessly to help the Redbacks win the centre clearance count for the day while Ayden Tessari was gallant in defence and Zak Saad (three goals) was lively in the forward half.
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