By Marcus Uhe
Any questions over who was the best team in the Outer East’s Division One football competition in 2023 were resoundingly put to bed on Sunday afternoon thanks to Emerald’s thumping 59-point win over Berwick Springs at Healesville in the competition’s grand final.
The Bombers kicked the opening five goals of the contest in a dominant, disciplined and brutal display of football while defending tenaciously at the other end in the 14.16 100 to 5.11 41 result, in what Sein Clearihan described as the side’s best performance of the season.
Talisman David Johnson got the ball rolling with two goals in the opening term, looking as springy and energetic as ever despite the glute concern.
Sandwiched between his two was a Lachlan Hoye goal that set the tone for the afternoon, Jared Derksen flattening an opponent with a heavy bump before a textbook tackle from small forward Rogan Goonan was rewarded with a free kick, the advantage spilling to Hoye who goaled in the goalsquare unopposed.
The Titans were breaking even at stoppages and managing forward entries but a tall forward mix lacked the necessary representation at ground level, allowing Mitch Thomas, Harry Lang and Ben Willder to quickly extinguish any spotfires that emerged close to goal.
Using the width on offer at Don Road, the Bombers went wide out of defensive 50 before pulling the trigger and using the corridor to enter the forward 50, beating the Berwick Springs forward press time after time.
A goalless first term was not the start the Titans would have envisaged, and things got worse when poor tracking allowed Hoye to goal on the run from distance.
Braydn Hoewel put the Titans on the board in the fourth minute, but it merely was the first step on what was shaping to be a long journey.
It would be their only goal of the half, however, as the Bombers kicked the final three of the term for a 46-point lead at the long break.
Not even a collision in a marking contest between Johnson and Hoye could slow the Bombers, with Isaac Seskis in the right place at the right time at ground level to capitalise on the spillage and join the onslaught.
The Titans did their best to pep themselves up for the second half, reminders of the round 16 comeback at Chandler Reserve ruminating in the sheds from the leadership group.
Another goal from Hoye to open the half, however, a far from ideal way to begin a comeback.
Johnson kicked his fourth shortly after, getting the better of two defenders in the air before a trademark set shot finish, the lead now 59 points.
Consecutive misses from Ty Ellison and Rhys Fletcher from directly in front were symbolic of the pressure the Titans faced, compounded by a Callum White goal at the other end from the second resulting kick out.
Fletcher and Tom Nelson kicked the final two of the quarter as Emerald appeared to tire, the extra game played last week looking like a factor.
But Clearihan wouldn’t let ‘the devil’ on the shoulder infiltrate his side’s mind, telling them “immortality does not get handed to you”.
Johnson kicked two more in the final quarter to finish with six, while Jake Pedder’s goal sent celebrations into overdrive, mobbed by his teammates after collapsing to the ground.
Two goals to the Titans late in the contest restored some credibility, but there was no mistaking the emphatic result.
Johnson was judged best on ground for his six goal haul, Brendan Wilson, Josh Rich and Michael Richardson not far behind, as was Hoye for his three goals.
Clearihan, basking in the glory of his first premiership as senior coach, described the achievement as “surreal”, beaming with pride over the resilience his team displayed.
“You’ve got to live for the minute,” he said.
“As I said to them after the game; relish it, embrace it all day, and I think they did that. They proved why they were on top of the ladder all year and it was a great day for the club, town and Outer East football.
“I just kept harping about being composed all day. I said to them ‘from shoulders-down, you’re going to be fine. Everything’s there.’
“’It’s just about up here today. You’ve got to keep going back and hitting the reset button, be composed all day.’”
The Bombers could have been forgiven for wearing mental scars from the heartbreaking extra time loss two weeks earlier, or the cluster of ACLs that ruined four players’ years before they begun, or the loss of Clearihan’s father late in the season.
But pressure makes gemstones, and in this case, or in this case, Emeralds.
“I kept them up and about, saying that you’re going to get challenged today like you never have before. You’ve got to trust our system, it’s all about trust in the system and trust in one-another.
“It’s not given, they had to go to work and make sure they prove their worth.
“It’s a memory they’ll forever take with them.
“They’ve been the dominant side all year and today they just went about it. You couldn’t write it.”
The Titans will no doubt use the result to fuel their ambitions in 2024 under the new leadership of Chris Johnson and Hayden Stagg, and will expect to find themselves in a similar position as the quest for a first-ever premiership continues.
