World Footy News

The Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs are again Wellington’s premier team after a convincing win over the North City Demons. On a sunny day in Wellington the Demons, played in a determined fashion, but were eventually outrun by the Bulldogs as the match progressed.

The Bulldogs were undefeated throughout the season but the Demons themselves are a good news story for 2013 after the team was in recess for 2012 and a total re-build was required.

In a season where the other two teams, Hutt Valley Eagles and Wellington City Saints, ran out of commitment about 2/3 of the way through it was fantastic that these two teams could carry on and have a game to finish the year worthy of their efforts throughout in building and maintaining their teams for the season.

 

As can often be the case in Wellington, wind was a factor in the match. With a strong breeze causing one end to be peppered with goals, the winning team was the side that made the most of their advantage.

After a furiously paced first quarter, it was the Demons who surprisingly had the lead. Their dominance over the quarter was reflected in the 4.1:25 – 2.0:12 scoreline.

However, with the change of ends came a change of fortunes for the Bulldogs. After spending most of the quarter on attack, they left the field at half time in a strong position, leading 6.4:40 – 4.1:25.

A tight third quarter left the match balanced on a knife edge. The Demons did win the quarter, though not by enough to retake the lead. With three quarters played, the score was 7.7:49 – 6.4:40, with the Bulldogs leading and taking the wind for the last quarter.

The final quarter saw the Bulldogs seize their chance to win a Grand Final, holding the Demons scoreless over the period and knocking in 5 more goals of their own.

The final score was 12.12:84 – 6.4:40, though in the words of WAFL Secretary Margaret Lavery, “The Bulldogs had to fight to win this one. The final score doesn’t reflect how tough the tussle was on the field.”

Jason Wozniak, who also coached the Wellington team at the 2013 AFL New Zealand National Provincial Championships, was player coach for the Bulldogs with Bulldogs, Wellington and NZ legend John Jackson as his assistant. They were ably assisted by Doggies Captain James Terry, who led from the front in kicking 4 goals in the match.

The North City Demons were coached by AFL New Zealand High Performance coach Shannon Wall, who along with Sam McKenzie and Peter Geale have created a strong group of players who should form the core of their 2014 squad. That the Demons made the WAFL final was a testament to their hard work organising and coaching the team.

Bulldogs mobile ruckman Pete Halstead was the Bulldogs best for the game which repeated his efforts from his last season in 2009 for the Dogs where he was again BOG.

The Wellington AFL Grand Final was held in conjunction with the AFL Flying Boomerangs match against the Under 16 New Zealand Hawks, played on the same day at Hutt Park.

Two players from the Under 16 New Zealand Hawks went on to represent their club in the final. Kade Riddell played for the Eastern Bulldogs, and Connor McGeough played for the Demons. Both are expected to be key participants in the AFL New Zealand High Performance programme in future.

WAFL Grand Final Score
Eastern Bulldogs 12.12:84 (Terry 4, Wozniak, Ticklepenny 3, Rice ,S. Fisher, Waring 1)
North City Demons 6.4:40 (Morgan 3, S Green 2, J Green)

For more: http://aflnz.co.nz/eastern-bulldogs-win-wafl-final/