Noble Park coach Shane Burgmann and his Bulls will face Vermont in Saturday’s grand final.
By Paul Pickering
NOBLE Park’s long-awaited day of redemption has arrived.
In a dramatic replay of last year’s grand final, the Bulls will face reigning back-to-back Eastern Football League (EFL) premier Vermont in this Saturday’s last dance at Bayswater Oval.
But for much of Saturday’s preliminary final, it looked as though the mighty Eagles’ wings would be clipped prematurely by East Ringwood, robbing the Bulls of a neatly scripted finale.
Ominously, however, the Vermont we all know – and many fear – emerged in the final quarter, rallying from 21 points down to overwhelm the fading Roos and revive its own premiership three-peat aspirations.
Vermont’s seven-point win would have been even more emphatic if not for its inaccuracy in front of goal, the team kicking 10 behinds along with five crucial goals in the last term.
Whether or not the Eagles can maintain that momentum for an entire week is uncertain, but Vermont’s September credentials cannot be questioned, as the Bulls know better than most.
Still there is an aura of confidence around the Bullring, leaving little doubt the Noble Park players not only believe they can win – but expect they will.
While there are many reasons why the Bulls deserve to be favourites this time around, including the indisputable logic of recent form, it is a single name that many believe will ensure a reversal of fortunes from 2006: Kris Barlow.
The former Eagle has run amok in the last two outings against his old side, and he shapes as a likely match-winner on Saturday.
As assistant coach, Barlow’s insight into his former team-mates will be invaluable for Bulls coach Shane Burgmann this week.
While Saturday’s match will be littered with intriguing contests, none will be more important than the battle between Noble backman Daniel Rigg and Vermont spearhead Matt Greig.
Having conceded eight goals to the high-flying Eagle earlier this year, Rigg did a number on Greig in the semi-final two weeks ago.
If Noble Park can maintain the midfield dominance of the two previous encounters while curtailing the influence of Greig and Kire Talevski up forward, they will be near impossible to stop on Saturday.
In doing so, Burgmann’s Bulls would take great pleasure in erasing another exclamation mark from a Vermont EFL dynasty that has reaped 13 flags in the past 20 years.
While it has only been three years since the Bulls last lifted the cup, this group seems to have a ravenous hunger to add to the social club’s bulging trophy cabinets.
And there will no shortage of cattle willing to accompany the silverware back to the Bullring on Saturday night.
