Dare to Dream this September

Joe Pignataro

We have got a pulsating weekend of William Buck Premier finals footy coming. Storylines coming at us left, right and centre.

One team is in the middle of a dynasty, another team in a self-titled Premiership drought. There’s a Collingwood style streak with 10 straight wins to get here, while the final side of our quadrant is yet to taste Premiership success in A-Grade.

Starting on Saturday, the ladder leaders and #1 ranked side all year long St Kevins will look to advance to their fourth consecutive William Buck Premier Grand Final. And, if you want to include the 2015 B-Grade Premiership, they’re staring down the barrel of five Grand Finals in the previous six completed seasons.

Fittingly, if you’re a died-in-the-wool Skobba, coming up against Collegians you will know in recent years, that second semi-final matchup has taken you into the Grand Final, and onto the Premiership.

You will also know that St Kevins and Collegians in September has all the hallmarks of a classic.

Four times they’ve met across 2017, 2018 and 2019 in finals. St Kevin’s three wins. Collegians one. Three of the four games under seven points at the final margin.

In the present day, the chapters are locked at one apiece. St Kevin’s took the chocolates in Round 4 by 21 points, which started the Collegians rot of five straight losses. Collegians got the return bout by 30 points as part of the streak. Keeping St Kevins to three goals, and their lowest score for the season.

The purple army is on a roll, 10 wins in a row. Dave Mirra is in amazing form. Kenny Ong has gone well and truly above expectations in the midfield. Matt Warren at full back is a human clamp supported by Sam Sofrinidis in the role of Darryl White with the long-sleeves and floating across packs. Sam Hibbins knows this rivalry well. As does Viv Michie. They are two of the six Collegians remaining from the side that were the runners up in 2018.

Anthony Lynch was the Premiership captain throughout 2017 and 2018. Now he’s striving to be the Premiership coach. He has players like Tom Jok, Conor Ross, Will Coates, Sam Critchley, coupled with youthful exuberance of Luke Winter and Jack Darmody. He has all the ammunition, knowledge and smarts to qualify for September as they did and to know what’s required to win this game.

What has Jared Rivers got in his kit bag to break down the St Kevin’s press? Can individual brilliance in finals beat the best implemented system in the VAFA? Does the wide expanses of Elsternwick Park enable the 18-man press to be fully on show?

We’ll find out at 2:00pm on Saturday.

Old Brighton sat inside the top four all season, until the conclusion of Round 17 falling to fifth. Old Xaverians fell out of the top four at the end of Round 14 before jumping back in at the expense of the Tonners going into the final round.

Old Brighton got it all right in the final round, a convincing performance against Old Melburnians ended their season as they swapped spots in the four. Old Xaverians were challenged for a half by University Blues before putting the pedal to the metal and sweeping them off the park.

From a historical point of view, we have the side that’s never won an A-Grade Premiership in Old Brighton. Against the only side to have won the Premiership from outside the top four since the turn of the century. And, they’ve done so twice.

2016 was the last time the red and black mafia lifted the trophy, that particular year Xav’s finished third before going onto win the flag. Ask the key playmakers at Old Xaverians, first they’ll say it’s a Premiership drought, then they’ll say they’ve done it before, and then they’ll tell you what we’re all thinking ‘you don’t want to play us in September’.

Ranked #2 for attack, and for defence. They’ve won six of their last seven matches, the loss came against Collegians by three points. In close games this year, they’ve lost them all. Three times they’ve fallen short by under a goal.

On paper, they have winners on every line. The current Woodrow Medallist, Marcus Stavrou leads from the front, supported by Dan Robinson in the middle, Denis Symeopoulos and Will Hams. Ryan Schoenmakers is the general in the backline, while Xavier Richards is the X-factor to the whole make up of James Byrnes’ team.

The flip side, Old Brighton play footy with grit, determination, grunt and flair. Anthony Zimmerman is back to his very best form. Harry Hill, Tom Fisher and Max Kennedy run riot with the ball in hand. Felix Flockhart in the ruck is a new dimension for the Tonners.

Out of necessity, Greg Hutchison flipped magnets around on Saturday. Will Lewis didn’t look at all lost floating across the backline, while his brother Oscar roamed through the midfield and half-forward. I hope they’re encouraged by their most recent performance and that’s where the focus has stayed this week, and not on the recent drubbing Xav’s handed to them in Round 13.

Old Brighton have reached the big dance in William Buck Premier once. Back in 2007, against Old Xaverians. They’ve tasted B-Grade success a handful of times in the recent decade. They’d love nothing more than to still be in the fight come 5:30pm on Sunday night.

After 18 rounds, 90 home and away games, we are down to the final four. Four different storylines, three of which will continue beyond this weekend.

Which ones will they be?

You’ll have to tune into RSN Carnival, watch on KommunityTV or head to the games to find out, and purchase your tickets right here.