Ovens & Murray: Wangaratta Rovers end 30-year flag drought

Stevie J was denied the fairytale finish as Yarrawonga coach with Wangaratta Rovers pulling off a grand final major upset. See his reaction.

Wangaratta Rovers inflicted another dose of September misery on Yarrawonga with an upset three-point victory in the Ovens & Murray league grand final at Lavington on Sunday to end a 30-year flag drought.

The Rovers suffered a demoralising 71-point loss to Yarrawonga in the second semi-final and were poised to farewell coach Steve Johnson with back-to-back premierships.

But, the ghosts of the early 1970s when the Rovers won three grand finals against the Pigeons in four years as underdogs, returned with some massive gambles at selection and a backline that stood up under fire late was rewarded with an against-the-odds triumph.

The Rovers now have a 5-1 record against Yarrawonga in grand finals and the Pigeons will forever rue poor kicking for goal.

But they almost pulled off an unlikely victory from 22 points down in the final term.

The Rovers’ biggest punt was playing big man Will Christie for the first time since early June and his two goals were crucial in the wash up.

Wangaratta Rovers downed Yarrawonga by three points in the Ovens & Murray league grand final at Lavington. Picture: Benjamin deOleveira

Rovers coach Sam Murray (suspension) and Sam Cattapan (concussion) didn’t play in the second semi-final, but their midfield presence against the star-studded Yarrawonga on-ball brigade led by Morris Medallist Willie Wheeler, Mick Gibbons and Perry Lewis-Smith was also pivotal in the against the odds win.

“I don’t think we were given much of a chance, but grand finals are interesting things,” Murray said.

“We played it as well as we could have today.

“In the midfield and forward of the footy we were good, but our backs really stood up.

“When we played them last time we allowed them to have 23 marks inside 50m and that number didn’t come about today.

“They were plus 15 inside 50s at halftime, but we were still in front and able to hang on.”

Another Rovers big man, Ed Dayman, won the Did Simpson Medal for best-on-ground, beating his direct opponent Lach Howe in the ruck and kicking two important goals.

Dayman returned to the Rovers before the June 30 clearance deadline as cover for Christie with his own injury issues, but didn’t play his first match until round 15.

“Coming from the year I was having back in Geelong it all feels pretty surreal to be honest,” he said.

“My body had pretty much carked it in and the chance of playing footy again was pretty low.”

Steve Johnson has coached Yarrawonga for the final time with the Pigeons going down to Wangaratta Rovers in the grand final. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

The grand final was played in front of an official crowd of 8963, down on the 10,156 who watched the Pigeons beat Albury by four points last year.

Gate-takings were $84,294.

The Rovers were a premiership-winning machine in the 1970s and early 1990s before stumbling on hard times that culminated with a winless season in 2018.

Rovers’ forward Alex Marklew’s dad Rick played in the club’s last flag in 1994.

The fightback began with the 2019 appointment of Darryn Cresswell, who took them back into finals before handing over the reins to Murray last year.

Murray and Cresswell are expected to be coaching adversaries next season with Cresswell set to take on his biggest challenge as coach of Corowa-Rutherglen after leading South Cairns to a flag at the weekend.

Yarrawonga dominated the first half, but found itself five points down at halftime as goal scoring opportunities were frittered away.

“We were a little bit off today in front of goals,” Johnson said.

“But credit to them, they actually executed their plan pretty well.

“They were hard to stop when they had the ball in hand at times.

“Their pressure and contest stuff was much improved than a couple of weeks ago.”