Gippsland Power won its second Talent League grand final on Saturday afternoon at Whitten Oval, surging past Dandenong 16.10 (106) to 10.11 (71).
After a tight first half where defenders Xavier Ladbrook, Henry Allsop and Charlie Fischer performed strongly amid a flurry of forward entries for the Stingrays, Gippsland powered away in a seven goal to three third term.
Cody Templeton and Wil Malady kicked five goals each, with all of Malady's coming after halftime.
After standing up in a losing cause in the Associated Public Schools (APS) grand final for a losing Caulfield Grammar, Malady kicked three in three minutes in the third term to headline an impressive game where his marking and dynamism complemented his goal-kicking.
When Templeton stepped around the man on the mark from 50 in the last quarter and steadied to kick the first major of the term, it felt like the game was won for Gippsland.
“I went into halftime and said to the boys ‘we haven't played our best and we're down by seven points' so we have a lot of improvement in the way we were playing. It was a really simple message, we wanted to get really deep entries and put their backs under pressure and we squeezed the ground off the back of it,” coach Kris Pendlebury said post-game.
“The boys listened to a tee and we put the foot down in the second half which I'm very pleased about.
“I think our tall defenders and forwards are really strong, it's more around the contest, that's their strength…I thought speed in the midfield would be really important for us today.
“I thought if we could match it with them in the middle and get good deep looks, our forwards are really dangerous, we just had to give them a chance to do their thing.”
Pendlebury saluted as coach 21 years after brother Scott got it done as a player, with Scott Pendlebury, Tyson Goldsack and Dale Thomas, all members of the Power's only other premiership, recording a video which was shown to players during the week.
“I've actually got two as a coach now, I've got one locally and one here so I've got bragging rights somewhat over (Scott),” Pendlebury quipped.
Judd Burgiel continued an excellent finals series for Gippsland, proving hard to tackle and navigating his way through traffic, while Hawthorn Next Generation Academy prospect Keenan Boi was impressive splitting his time between the midfield and attack. Marlon Neocleous was another to run through the middle, while Levi Macumber also had a high-impact game.
“Everyone took their moments, there were so many key cogs to us winning, at the end of the day it doesn't matter who does them, I'm not fussed who kicked the goals as long as everyone takes their moments,” Templeton said.
“I felt like we really did that in the first half – I said in the rooms we were playing okay but that's not our best and we still had a whole lot to offer so it was good to do that in the second half.
“Things are going to go your way and things might not go your way but it's about fronting up every moment you get and trying not to throw in the towel so embrace everything which goes my way.
“It's just bringing the energy, we got bullied a bit so I just reminded everyone ‘don't give into it because we're just as much of a threat as what they are to us' so really trying to embrace that and get the energy out of everyone to play our best footy.”
For Dandenong, powerful forward Mitch Toner was among the most impressive, kicking two big-time goals and setting up another three as a lively attacking presence in the air and on the ground.
Andrio Sousa's blistering pace and kicking were also important for the Stingrays, while Kaie Sullivan and Marcus Prasad capped their strong finals series. Captain Gus Kennedy blended attack and defence and Ben Carroll did all he could to finish with 29 disposals and a goal.
“It's a bit of a grudge match against "Dandy" so I was prepared to go all in, contest after contest, but I had this funny feeling all week that we'd get up so for it to pan out the way it did (was pleasing) and I had full confidence in the boys,” Templeton said.
