Woori Yallock’s Brendan Sneddon gets eaten alive by Gembrook Cockatoo’s Nathan Leversha, Andrew Shipp and Nathan Brown. Picture: SARAH MURATORE
By RUSSELL BENNETT
GEMBROOK COCKATOO will have to get past one of its grand final conquerors from the past two seasons if the side is to break its first division premiership cold streak. And make no mistake – that is the Brookers’ sole objective.
If the side’s form last Saturday is anything to go by – look out.
Gembrook completely annihilated Woori Yallock in the second semi final at Warburton, sending shockwaves through the stunned crowd.
The Brookers and Tigers were the two standout Division One teams all season, but Gembrook made Woori Yallock look embarrassingly second rate on the weekend, running away 115-point winners, 22.16 (148) to 4.9 (33).
The Brookers didn’t just have winners in all parts of the ground; just about all their players dominated their opponents.
The side entered quarter time with a whopping 52-point lead, 8.5 (53) to just one point from Woori Yallock.
Star Brookers utility Andrew Shipp and young gun Damian Volta led the way in the first term, with big spearhead Shannon Richardson also in ominous touch. Gembrook’s marquee fullback Nathan Brown dominated dangerous Woori forward Brendan Sneddon – not even allowing him to touch the Sherrin in the opening stanza.
The Brookers played their best quarter of the year right when they needed it most – to come out and avenge their Round 16 home loss to the Tigers.
Coach Travis Marsham was still wary the potential for his men to become complacent with such a big early lead.
“That wasn’t a bad quarter,” he said.
“But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, boys.
“How many times have we been in this great position?”
But he knew his star was in the zone.
“That look in your eye, Shippy… I wish I could bottle it,” he said.
The whitewash continued in the second term, with the Gembrook spine cutting Woori to shreds. The Tigers’ frustration eventually boiled over, with the side trying to man-handle the Brookers in front of a big Warburton crowd. But Woori even lost the physical battle, as big Richardson let his play do the talking – regularly beating multiple opponents in the goal square and seemingly doing it with ease.
Gembrook led 12.10 (82) to just 1.3 (9) at half time, and the game was, essentially, over. But the Brookers refused to let their feet of the Tigers’ throat.
Richardson kicked his sixth early in the third term, exposing the fragility of Woori’s last line of defence. But in an all-too-telling contrast, ‘Big Sauce’ Nathan Brown ran through the centre corridor completely unopposed and slotted a 50-metre crowd-pleasing goal to top off the most satisfying afternoon of Gembrook’s season.
In a performance littered with starring roles, it was hard to pinpoint the best of the best for the Brookers, but former Fremantle Docker Shipp, who described the win as the best team performance he’d been involved in at any level of football, said Volta, Brown, AJ Walker, Rick Clark, Daniel Welsh and big Craig Clarke were the cream of the crop. Richardson shone with a career-high seven majors.
Gembrook moves straight through to the grand final, while 2010 premiers Woori Yallock and 2011 victors Upwey Tecoma battle it out for the right to face them. What a daunting prospect that must be.
Complacency is always the worst enemy of a team in red-hot form, and the Brookers will need to stay focused for four more quarters of football this season. But Marsham clearly loved what his side displayed on Saturday – a ruthless killer instinct.
