BY NATHAN DOLE
White Hills caps premiership trifecta
THE Winslow White Hills Demons capped a superb season as they won all three Bendigo Bank Heathcote DFNL footy grand finals on Saturday at Huntly’s Strauch Reserve.
A 36-year wait for a senior grand final victory was ended in emphatic style as the Demons marked a 71-point victory against Leitchville Gunbower.
The Demons had not hoisted the premiership cup since the triumph against Stanhope in 1988.
Years of waiting for many of the long-time White Hills fans, committee members and volunteers was capped by the 113-42 victory against the Bombers.
It was LG which was first to score in the second minute through Lachlan Sverns after a turnover from a defensive kick-in.
Three goals in as many minutes by White Hills star Liam Bartels put the Demons up 20-7 by the 12-minute mark.
Two of what would be an eight-goal haul by Bartels were set up by centre breaks won by the skilful Mitch Dole and co-coach Kaiden Antonowicz.
With moves like Jagger, Mitch Dole wrong-footed an opponent and then calmly slotted his first goal as the red and black led 26-7 by the 15th minute.
A brilliant goal by Fraser Buchanan from a tight angle in the pocket lifted LG’s spirits as White Hills led 27-14 by the first break.
Quarter two was dominated by the Demons.
They slammed on 5.3, but it was the defensive efforts across the field which were such a crucial factor in the Demons’ game.
A lot of play was between the 50m arcs as the Shannon Keam-coached Bombers battled to get the ball through or over the White Hills half-back line.
By half-time the Demons led 60-14.
When Antonowicz and Bartels goaled in the sixth and 12th minutes of the third term it was a matter of not who would win, but how much.
Although his team was up by 10 goals, Patrick Crawford’s effort to be airborne, but still hold his opponent and earn a free kick in one of the tackles of the day was a true sign of the Demons’ desperation.
A Blake Dye mark and goal in the 16th minute ended a run of seven unanswered goals by White Hills.
Bartels brought up his sixth after another strong mark.
Moved from defence to attack, Chris Horman capped Bombers’ teamwork from half-back and down the social rooms wing with a goal.
By three quarter-time White Hills led 87-26.
A lot of focus for fans was on Bartels and whether he could reach a double figure tally of goals.
It was not to be, although the Demons finished strongly with 4.2 to 2.4 in the last to complete a 113-42 victory.
A team jointly coached by Jack Fallon and Kaiden Antonowicz reigned supreme in both finals matches to record victories by 64 and 71 points.
“This is a dream come true,” Fallon said of the premiership victory.
It was not the first premiership win for Fallon as he did so with Eaglehawk in 2018.
“This premiership was three years in the making,” Fallon said of taking on a playing coach role, firstly with Jake Pallpratt and then with Kaiden Antonowicz.
White Hills had played just twice since August 3 in the lead-up to the grand final.
“It was incredibly challenging, but the boys kept working hard at training and in matches.”
There were many stand-out performances, but none better than Liam Bartels who kicked eight goals to earn the AFL Victoria medal.
“He’s an absolute gun,” Fallon said.
The work and leadership of Fallon from half-back put him among the best on grand final day along with Ben Taylor, Jake Pallpratt, Mitch Dole and captain Rhys Irwin.
The victorious co-coach said the smiles on the faces of so many long-time officials, volunteers, supporters and the 21 players he now shares as a White Hills premiership player made it all worthwhile.
Best for the Shannon Keam-coached Bombers were Will Brereton, Jye Keath, Brady Hore, James Brereton, Brad Green and Chris Horman.
It was not the performance that Leitchville Gunbower wanted to put, but the Demons experience in major league finals was a telling factor.
It was a superb effort by the Bombers to reach a grand final after being wooden spooner two years ago.
“It’s onwards and upwards from here,” Keam said.
White Hills won the reserves and under-18s grand finals by 14 and 13 points.
There were some anxious moments for Demons’ players and fans in the final quarter as Mount Pleasant cut a 32-point lead at the start of the term to just 13.
A great goal by best afield Seth Boyd sealed what would be a 75-61 victory for the red and black against the Tyler McNamara and Jason Carbone-coached Blues.
Grand final day kicked off with White Hills against Lockington Bamawm United in the under-18s clash.
The Rob Lowes-coached White Hills led 26-24 at half-time.
In the third it was the Tyler Phillips-coached Cats who took charge.
A score of 5.4 as it held the Demons to a score of 3.2 meant LBU led 58-46 going into the last term.
There was no panic from a White Hills team which had been beaten just once in the run to the finals.
The Demons lifted their workrate and was rewarded with five goals as they charged to a 78-65 victory.
Ben Masters did so in the Demons’ attack as he finished with a match-high five goals as Kalan Hand chipped in with three.
LBU’s leading goalkickers were James Brentnall and Nicholas Mitchell on two.
The AFL Victoria medal for best afield went to Jarrell Ratcliffe as Kalan Hand, Ben Masters and Noah Jorgensen-Slimmon were among the best for White Hills.
Toby Coutts, Jacob Haines, Riley Carr and Bowden Stone were best for the Cats.
Heathcote DFNL footy grand finals scoreboard:
Seniors:
White Hills 4.3 9.6 13.9 17.11 (113)
Leitchville Gunbower 2.2 2.2 4.2 6.6 (42)
GOALS – White Hills: Liam Bartels 8, Mitch Dole 3, Kaiden Antonowicz 2, Cohen Kekich, Ben Taylor, Mitch Walsh, Nic Warnock. Leitchville Gunbower: Chris Horman, Lachlan Sverns 2, Fraser Buchanan, Blake Dye.
BEST – White Hills: Liam Bartels, Jack Fallon, Ben Taylor, Jake Pallpratt, Mitch Dole, Rhys Irwin. Leitchville Gunbower: Will Brereton, Jye Keath, Brady Hore, James Brereton, Brad Green, Chris Horman.
AFL Victoria medal: Liam Bartels, White Hills.
Reserves:
White Hills 5.2 6.2 9.6 11.9 (75)
Mount Pleasant 2.1 3.4 4.4 9.7 (61)
GOALS – White Hills: Jake Miller, Aaron Schofield, Harry Sheilds, David Wright 2, Seth Boyd, Jayden Sheean, Kaiden Skelton. Mount Pleasant: Jack Mackenzie 3, Jesse O’Connell, Jacob Smith 2, Callum Craig, Ryan Pontell.
BEST – White Hills: Seth Boyd, Liam Monaghan, Joe Gardy, Kaiden Skelton, Hamish Richards, Harry Sheilds. Mount Pleasant: Callum Craig, Oliver McCooke, Ryan Pontell, Nick Edwards, Jack Mackenzie, Sam Mitchell.
HDFNL medal: Seth Boyd, White Hills.
Under-18s:
White Hills 2.1 4.2 7.4 12.6 (78)
Lockington Bamawm United 1.3 3.6 8.10 9.11 (65)
GOALS – White Hills: Ben Masters 5, Kalan Hand 3, Jarrell Ratcliffe, Isaac Tzouroutis 2. Lockington Bamawm United: James Brentnall, Nicholas Mitchell 2, Cody Betts, Eddie Dudley, Jacob Haines, Brayden Hull, Charlie Mundie.
BEST – White Hills: Jarrell Ratcliffe, Kalan Hand, Ben Masters, Noah Jorgensen-Slimmon, Angus O’Brien, Jackson McRae. Lockington Bamawm United: Toby Coutts, Jacob Haines, Riley Carr, Bowden Stone, James Brentnall, William Hann.
AFL Victoria medal: Jarrell Ratcliffe, White Hills.
The Winslow White Hills FNC’s premiership-winning teams of the 2024 season:
Seniors:
Kaiden Antonowicz, Ben Bacon, Liam Bartels, Tom Brereton, Patrick Crawford, Callum Crisp, James Davies, Alex Davis, Jake Dickens, Mitch Dole, Patrick Eefting, Jack Fallon, Rhys Irwin, Cohen Kekich, Jack Lawton, Jake Pallpratt, Cameron Taggert, Ben Taylor, Ryan Walker, Nic Wallace, Mitch Walsh, Nick Warnock,
Coaches: Kaiden Antonowicz, Jack Fallon.
Reserves:
Brock Allsop, James Avery, Seth Boyd, Louis Chivers, Ryan Clark, Joe Gardy, Hamish Goggin, Mitch Griffin, Josh Harris, Blake Hogan, Trent McGough, Jake Miller, Liam Monaghan, Hamish Richards, Aaron Schofield, Jayden Sheean, Harry Sheilds, Kaiden Skelton, Callum Stewart, Willem Toose, Nic Wharton, David Wright.
Coaches: Lachie Sawyer, Jayden Sheean.
Under-18s:
Tamba Basha, Sam Cock, Patrick Conlan, Dustin Crawford, Oliver Edmiston, Kalan Hand, Noah Jorgensen-Slimmon, Jackson Lowery, Ben Masters, Jack McGrath, Jackson McRae, Isaac Meersbergen, Max Miller, Kaden Mitchell, Jack Monaghan, Angus O’Brien, O’Malley Parker, Jarrell Ratcliffe, Nicholas Santas, Talan Schultz, Isaac Tzouroutis, Tom Ward.
Coach: Rob Lowes. Assistant coach: Will Conlan.