The Eastern Ranges Boys took the field up against the Sandringham Dragons at 1pm and didn’t have the hot start that the girls did, down by two goals at quarter time 2.1, 13 to 4.1, 25.
The script was flipped in the second quarter as Eastern slammed on six goals to one to hold a three-goal lead at the main break.
Sandringham had the scoring end again in the third and fought back, kicking five and holding Eastern to one goal to hold a narrow seven-point lead at the final change.
The boys in blue rallied in the last to run over the top of the Dragons, keeping their opponents goalless and nailing four goals straight to run out victors by 15 points.
Boys coach Lauren Morecroft said it was a great reward for everybody who has contributed to the Eastern Ranges but also for the players , who had a very consistent year.
“I think we deserved to be there at the end and I was really glad that they would finish with a victory,” she said.
“They’re a very coachable group… I think we had some moments in games where we were challenged and we had to change the way that we played and some of those moments where the guys can change in a game was really great for their development,”
“It epitomises what this group’s like, they’re so coachable, they’re so team first and that’s why I think we were so consistent in the end.”
The win was the Ranges’ first Boys Under-18 premiership since the dominant 2013 side, which featured the likes of AFL premiership players Tom Boyd and Christian Petracca, current Collingwood forward Dan McStay, former Western Bulldogs Mitch Honeychurch and Ben Cavarra and former Fremantle Docker Michael Apeness.
Morecroft said they knew it was going to be really close up against the Dragons who were searching for a fourpeat.
“They’re a really good team, they’re always really structured well and organised, they were looking to go really fast against us as well so to me, it was stressful as a coach, it was making sure that we were pulling the right levers to get the game looking a bit more the way that we wanted it to look rather than to their advantage at points,”
“It was probably at the end, the fourth quarter, we were able to get a bit more on top and capitalise, which was a bit of a scoring end with the wind as well and the conditions,”
“I’m just really happy that we wrestled momentum and the boys probably carried out a fair amount of our training that we’ve been doing in terms of close games and scenarios.”
Xavier Taylor (East Ringwood junior club) was best on ground in defence, reeling in 15 marks among his 25 disposals. Draft bolter Sullivan Robey (Rowville), Oskar Taylor (South Belgrave, formerly Upwey-Tecoma), Jos Landy (Norwood), Oliver Greeves (Vermont) and Lachy Dovaston (Blackburn) were also among the best on the day.
Morecroft said the premiership win is a huge testament to the strength of local footy in the region and to the local clubs who develop them from the early ages where the hard work is done on fundamentals and good habits, and shared her advice for hopeful draftees.
“I think the main advice from us is to take all the learnings that they’ve had in the time they’ve been with our program and continue to build on them at AFL level,” she said.
“Between now and then it’s a nervous wait, it’s just staying in really good condition, making sure that they’re ready to go for a pre-season and at the moment they’re having club interviews as well with their families so making sure that they’re just being the best version of themselves,”
“It’s hard, it’s pretty nerve-wracking when you’ve got a really strong goal and you’ve got a lot of clubs in your house, interviewing and going through the fine details but we know they’re really good people and we hope they make sure that they’re showing that in those interviews and also that they’re still in great condition for when they do turn up for an AFL pre-season.”
Greeves, Dovaston, Robey, Xavier Taylor and Oskar Taylor are all beng tipped as potential early picks.
Talent lead Danny Ryan said it’s been pretty exciting to see Eastern Ranges talents get their chances at AFL and AFLW level in recent years and shared his advice for the boys and girls hopeful of being selected to play at the elite level.
“To see some of our girls that were in our program last year making their debut, Grace Belloni and Georgia Brisbane, it’s really exciting that both the boys and girls programs we’re seeing these kids have impacts immediately when they go into the AFL and we’re seeing what Nick Watson’s been able to do and Christian Moraes over in Port Adelaide,”
“Don’t read the media and don’t read the commentary on the socials with draft predictions, there’s a lot of pressure that comes from it, there’s a lot of articles written about them and some are good and some are negative and I think for us it’s just trying to enjoy the next couple of months,”
“They’ve obviously got their VCE coming up which we know is very important for them to get that part right so hopefully they can get some time back studying, can have a really strong exam period and then the draft will take off from there.”
