The Yass Roos have qualified for the 2022 AFL Canberra Fourth Grade Men’s Grand Final after a convincing 37-point win over the Goulburn Swans in last Saturday’s preliminary final at Joe O’Connor Park.
The Roos defeated the Swans 12.14.86 to 8.1.49 and completely dominated the scoring chances all day.
Despite trailing by three points at quarter time, the second-placed Roos surged ahead in the remaining three quarters, piling on 10 goals to five.
Fraser Cloney kicked an impressive bag of five goals on the day and was complimented by midfielders Macauly Harvie and Dylan Camac, who gave the forwards first use of the ball.
Rex Stacey, Elliot Johns and Darcy Paine all chipped in for the hosts and were some of the best on field for the Roos, helping them jump away.
Yass Roos Club President and assistant coach Jarrad Forlonge, said he is proud of his side’s performance against Goulburn.
“I think certainly in that first quarter, we were probably the better team for most of it. We probably clocked off five or so minutes early and they got some late goals in that first quarter that put them ahead at the first change, but we came out of the blocks pretty quick to start the second quarter,” Forlonge said.
“We carried that momentum then for the rest of the game. It was obviously fairly scrappy and hard to play in the wet weather, but I think in the end, our pressure game was really good the whole day. I’d honestly say that won us the game in the end.
“Our pressure right from the start was fantastic, and in the end, the sheer weight of everything just sort of worked itself out.
“Our whole backline all day and all year have been probably the best backline in the competition. They stood up once again on the weekend.”
The Roos relished playing in front of a home crowd at Joe O’Connor Park last Saturday, with a massive supporter base of a few hundred cheering the boy’s home.
“It’s actually incredible. I think all the boys came off the field and reckoned that was probably the biggest crowd that that we’ve played in front of. We’ve never had a home final before, so to get that then to have all our supporters turn up like they did, it was a really cool atmosphere,” Forlonge continued.
“The action was pretty good on the field. There was a few sort of scraps there throughout the game, and the crowd was brought into it right from the start.
“The boys definitely loved all the fans up there on the hill. It was a shame that they had to fence off the grass area because of the wet, but it didn’t really stop anyone coming. They just filtered their way all around the ground.
“The canteen made more money than we did in any other home game this year, so it goes to show we definitely had our biggest crowd of the season.
“There were quite a few Goulburn supporters there too which obviously helped too.”
Yass’ preliminary final win will mean they will take on the Murrumbateman Eagles in this weekend’s grand final; a clash dubbed the Battle of the Barton.
The two Yass Valley sides will take the field at EPC Solar Park at Phillip Oval from 12:45pm this Saturday, August 20.
Pick up a copy of the Yass Valley Times for the full preview of ‘Battle of the Barton’.
Tim Warren
