Gippsland, Wimmera, Ovens and King, Hume: Leongatha finishes undefeated season in style
Tom Marriott showed why he is one of Leongatha’s greatest players with a 2022 to remember.
Leongatha captain Tom Marriott has crowned one of the finest individual seasons by a Gippsland league player by leading his team to the premiership against Sale on Saturday.
Marriott became the first player in the club’s history to win a second Trood Award and Rodda Medal in the lead-up to the grand final.
His first medal was also won in a flag-winning 2018 season, but four years later he also took out the Stan Aitken Medal for best on ground in the grand final.
Leongatha finished the season as premiers and champions when it pulled away in the final quarter to win by 22 points.
First-year coach Trent McMicking said watching Marriott limp from the ground midway through last term played in driving rain made him “nervous”.
But Leongatha sealed the win with important goals to Aaron Turton and Aaron Heppell.
McMicking said Marriott was a coach’s dream player.
“Where do you start?” he said.
“He leads the club, he does more work off the field than you would ever believe.
“He leads from the front, he has strong standards.
“He is a star footballer.
“I’m shattered he’s going to be really sore for the next couple of days, but he will be fine.”
Teammate Cade Maskell, who won the Stan Aitken Medal in 2018 when Leongatha won its most recent premiership, won the other medal for best player voted on by the umpires.
Marriott said he felt a “bit of a bang” to his lower leg when Sale ruckman Jack Leslie fell across him in the pressure-packed final term.
Marriott said the latest flag was satisfying given the Covid interruptions of recent years.
“It’s been a different one,” he said.
“Having a few years off from Covid it was hard to get everyone keen and going again.
“We’ve got a really good group so it’s hard to not rock up and be excited about playing footy every week.
“It’s a team sport and you can’t do it without the other guys.”
Leongatha’s grand final victory was its 28th successive victory and it’s the first time the club has gone through a season undefeated to win the premiership.
EARLIER COVERAGE
Leongatha has completed an undefeated season in the Gippsland league by grinding out a tough final-term performance in torrential rain to beat Sale by 22 points in the grand final at Moe.
The heavens opened at three-quarter time with Leongatha holding a two goal advantage after only two points separated the two teams at halftime.
Leongatha and Sale had never met in a grand final and went toe-to-toe before Leongatha lifted in the big moments when the flag was on the line in the last term.
Leongatha kicked 5.5 to Sale’s 1.9 after halftime with crucial goals in the final term booted by Aaron Turton and Aaron Heppell, whose brother and Essendon captain Dyson was an interested onlooker at the match.
Star Leongatha midfielder Tom Marriott capped off a stellar season by winning the Stan Aitken Medal for best-on-ground in a match which began ominously for Sale with him winning an early centre clearance and spearing a pass to forward Aaron Hillberg, who converted the set shot.
Marriott limped off midway through the final quarter with a knock to his lower leg, but Leongatha hung tough in his absence to extend its winning streak to 28 matches.
Cade Maskell won the best-on-ground medal voted on by the umpires.
Trent McMicking took over as coach of Leongatha this season and led the club to its first flag since going back-to-back in 2017-18.
“It’s huge,” he said.
“It was country footy at its best, shame about the weather, but there is so much involved and so much hard work goes into what you’re trying to do.
“To win every game and be champions is outrageous.
“We wanted to play fun footy and we wanted to play good footy to watch.”
Sale had pushed Leongatha during the season and made the all important strong start helped by two goals to key playmaker Shannen Lange in the first term.
Sale’s inaccuracy in front of goal began in the second quarter with the breeze.
Its best players included Lange, Jack and Will Leslie and Ryan Pendlebury.
“My message after the game was keep your head high and don’t let what’s happened today reflect on how good our season has been,” Sale coach Jack Johnstone said.
“We squeezed every last drop out of this, both seniors and reserves, and we’ll celebrate the season for what it was.”
WIMMERA
Minyip-Murtoa has bookended the Covid era with flags by beating Ararat in the Wimmera league grand final by seven points.
Minyip-Murtoa won the last fully completed season in 2019 and was on top of the ladder when the pandemic halted the 2021 season on the eve of finals.
It established the upper hand against Ararat at quarter time of the grand final played in wet conditions and gusty winds at Horsham by opening a 21-point lead with first use of the breeze.
Minyip-Murtoa still led by two goals at halftime with Ararat ruing costly 50m penalties in the low scoring grand final.
Nuggety Minyip-Murtoa midfielder Will Holmes was awarded the best-on-ground medal ahead of teammate Kieran Delahunty, who won a third Toohey Medal for the Wimmera league best and fairest in the grand final lead up.
Holmes is in his first season with Minyip-Murtoa after being recruited from Holbrook which recorded a massive upset win in the Hume league grand final on Saturday.
Former Fremantle Dockers player Tanner Smith was also among the best for the premiers.
OVENS AND KING
Benalla All Blacks have ended a premiership drought dating back to 1981 with a 25-point win against Bonnie Doon in the grand final at Wangaratta on Saturday.
All Blacks led by only a point at halftime before kicking 5.9 to 2.3 in the second half of the match played in wet conditions.
On a tough day for forwards, century goalkicker Lachlan Thompson was held to two goals in the grand final, but All Blacks had plenty of other dominant players including best-on-ground Jackson Hourigan, Justin Gervasoni and Al Jacka.
Cody Crawford has also kicked two goals for All Blacks with Hourigan finishing runner-up to teammate Riley Moran in this year’s Baker Medal for the Ovens and King league best and fairest.
HUME
Holbrook has pulled off one of the biggest grand final surprises of 2022 by beating hot favourites Osborne in the grand final by 29 points at Walbundrie.
Holbrook began the last quarter trailing by seven points against the team which was undefeated this season and cruising to the flag last year before Covid returned.
Former Albury Tigers multiple premiership player John Mitchell kickstarted the final term avalanche from Holbrook within a minute of the restart.
Holbrook piled on 7.4 to 2.0 in the final term heist with Mitchell finishing with four goals to deny his former Albury premiership teammate Joel Mackie a flag in charge of Osborne.
Michael Rampal, who joined Holbrook this season from Tallangatta league club Thurgoona, also starred in the grand final after an injury-cruelled early season with his new club.
Holbrook coach Matt Sharp kicked two goals as did Kolby Heiner-Hennessy, who finished the season with 60 goals including six in last week’s preliminary final.
MURRAY
Mulwala has come from 18 points down at halftime to beat red hot flag favourites Cobram by three points in the grand final played at Moama.
Mulwala, which had not won a flag since 1990, still trailed by seven points at three quarter time before last term goals to Owen Conway and Jamie Smith put the success-starved club in front.
Cobram, also in a premiership drought stretching back to 1998, squandered late chances to wrest back the lead.
Matthew Gorman, who previously played for Yarrawonga and Mooroopna before joining Mulwala this season, was best-on-ground.
Sean Robinson kicked three goals for Mulwala in the low scoring match.
Brothers Sam and Harry Beasley, who didn’t play in Cobram’s second semi-final win a fortnight ago due to injury, were in their team’s best players with Daniel Clarke, Timothy Garlick and Luca Allen.
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