OHA outlasts gallant St Virgil’s to snare back-to-back Old Scholars premierships
OHA has denied St Virgil’s the chance to complete a rags-to-riches fairytale, sending Tasmanian football great Ian Callinan off in perfect fashion.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
TASMANIAN football great Ian Callinan has ended his glittering football career on the sweetest note after guiding OHA to back-to-back Old Scholars premierships.
The Ships ensured Callinan — who suffered a shock stroke last year that ended his playing days — sails off into the sunset as a premiership coach by outlasting a gallant St Virgil’s 10.10 (70) to 9.9 (63) at a wet and slippery North Hobart Oval.
Vying for their first flag in 20 years, the Saints were rocked by the loss of their first year coach and league best and fairest Jaye Bowden to concussion, with the former Glenorchy star sent to hospital as a precautionary measure and not featuring after half time.
St Virgil’s, playing in their first grand final since 2010 after years at the bottom of the table, kicked the first two goals of the match and held a 13-point buffer at quarter-time but as the rain tumbled down the Ships thrived in the heavy conditions to rattle on five unanswered majors in the second term.
Bowden, who was struck in an incident off the ball – and which also forced OHA’s Ray Hill from the field for 15 minutes – kicked his second goal deep into time-on to cut the margin to nine points, but he took no further part in the contest as delayed concussions symptoms flared.
The Ships rammed on three goals in three and a half minutes to open the second half to blow the doors open, and had one hand on the cup at the last change, holding a commanding 30-point lead.
However, the Saints refused to wilt and with Luke Potter kicking three last-quarter goals, continued to threaten right to the final siren, only to run out of time.
“It’s probably not something I thought about during the year but the time is right,” Callinan said of ending a career that includes multiple premierships and accolades at AFL, VFL and TSL level.
“I get tired a lot – it’s a nice way to go out and put a full stop to my footy journey.”
Callinan said after a sluggish start, his teammates thrived in the conditions.
“I reckon this footy club is built on contested-type footy, so the rain does suit us,” he said.
“The same happened last year as well. We’ve got a really contested-type team and we just make it a s...fight – we play one-on-one style footy so it probably did suit us in the end.”
Bullocking forward Brodie Langford was a beacon in attack and alongside Gabby Chambers kicked two goals.
Saints assistant coach Sam Coetzee was proud of the fight shown from his players, admitting losing Bowden deflated the group at the long break.
“OHA really adapted to the conditions … they outplayed us in the end. We’re disappointed but not disillusioned.
“It was definitely hard for the rest of the coaching team to keep morale up, Jaye is an absolute inspiration to this team.”
‘Bloods’ culture hits Tasmania University
Arguably one of the biggest names in coaching has stepped in to mentor the senior coaches and staff at Tasmania University as they look to return to finals in 2025. New coach Tom Cleary opens up on his impact.
The inside story of the Tassie Devils mascot design
It had to be kick-ass, have arm tattoos and bloody knees to represent Queenstown’ famous gravel oval, but most of all look friendly enough not to freak out little kids. Here’s how the Devils mascot was designed.