The Road to the William Buck Premier Men’s Grand Final

After 18 hard-fought home & away rounds and two weeks of cut-throat finals, only two teams remain in the race for the 2024 William Buck Premier Men’s premiership.

Here’s how the Tonners & Cardinals made it to Grand Final Day, to be played at Elsternwick Park on Friday.

OLD BRIGHTON (17-2)

The Tonners jumped out of the blocks with 7 straight wins to kick a couple of games clear at the top of the table and establish themselves as a legitimate premiership contender.

A 2-point loss to St Kevin’s at TH King Oval in Round 8 halved their advantage to a single game, but they bounced back the following week with a thrilling 2-point win over reigning champions Collegians.

This victory kicked off another 5-game winning streak and reinforced their dominance atop the ladder at 12-1, a game-and-a-half clear of SKOB with 5 to play.

Their least impressive performance of the season came in Round 14, when fellow Grand Finalists Old Scotch came from 20 points down at quarter-time to power away in the final term for a 25-point win.

But the Tonners would quickly dust themselves off again, rebounding strongly with a 57-point statement win over the Snowdogs, followed by a 45-point belting of Collegians that included a blistering 5.7 to 1.0 opening term.

Old Brighton closed out the home and away seasons with four straight wins, securing the minor premiership by a whopping 3.5 games – their 16-2 regular season equalling Collegians 2012 & St Kevin’s 2017 as the best by any minor premiers over the last dozen years.

Having beaten St Kevin’s by a single point in a gripping final-round clash at Brighton, they would stage another thriller in the Second Semi-Final at Elsternwick Park the following week.

Scores were locked together with just seconds remaining when ruckman Sam Flockart grabbed a bobbling ball and snapped through the game-winner to give the Tonners a week off to freshen up ahead of their second William Buck Premier Men’s Grand Final in three seasons.

OLD SCOTCH (14-6)

The Cardinals had a patchy start to the season, winning their first two (Uni Blacks & Fitzroy) before inaccuracy cost them wins over Collegians & Uni Blues.

An impressive 50-pt win over St Bernard’s was followed by losses to the Top 2 teams – Old Brighton 26pts in Round 6, then St Kevin’s by 2pts in Round 7 (after leading by 15pts at three-quarter time).

This left Old Scotch stranded a game outside the Top 4 at 3-4, needing a spark to get their season up and going.

They saw off a determined OMs in Round 8 and then started to find their rhythm with good wins over Xavs, Fitzroy, Uni Blacks (when they came from behind at three-quarter time), St Bernard’s and Uni Blues.

This 6-game winning streak elevated them to outright third as they faced the return leg of their back-to-back match-ups against the Top 2.

The VAFA world watched on with interest to see whether the Cards were the real deal and they answered the question in fine style, defeating league leaders Old Brighton by 25pts, then St Kevin’s by a whopping 48 points.

Suddenly, the Cardinals were being mentioned as potential premiership favourites, given their 8-game winning streak now included the scalps of the only two teams above them.

A win over OMs made it 9 straight victories and a spot in the Top 2 with two rounds to play. But just as it appeared the Cards were headed for the double chance, they stumbled again with another horrendous goalkicking performance costing them a win over Collegians and their Top 2 spot.

And when Xavs held them off in a tight final round clash, Old Scotch were heading into the finals on back-to-back losses and the pundits were questioning whether they’d peaked too early.

They faced their old nemesis, Collegians, in the First Semi Final and turned in a performance that may well be looked back at as club-defining.

Having lost 10 straight to the Lions since 2015, the Cardinals put that history to bed with a comprehensive 44-point win that saw them arrive at the Preliminary Final against another old foe, St Kevin’s, with their confidence & belief restored.

After three tight quarters of high-pressure football, Old Scotch flicked the switch in the final term of the Preliminary Final, exploding away from SKOB with a blistering 7-goal quarter that rocketed them away to a second successive 44-point finals win and their first Premier Men’s Grand Final berth in 26 years.

WILLIAM BUCK PREMIER MEN’S GRAND FINAL
FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER, 2.30pm
Elsternwick Park, Brighton
Live coverage from 1.30pm
LIVE STREAM – VAFA.com.au & KOMMUNITY TV
RADIO COVERAGE – SEN app, SEN.com.au & VAFA.com.au