The Yass Roos have finished the 2022 AFL Canberra Fourth Grade Men’s Competition in second position on the ladder after defeating the Googong Hogs 17.10.112 to 5.6.36 in the final round of the home and away season.

The 76-point win was a straightforward one for Yass, leading from start to finish and never looking back.

Yass Roos coach Dom Johns was pleased with his side’s performance in their final regular season game. “Our forward pocket Sam Williams kicked nine goals on the day.

Sam is the joint leading goalkicker for the whole competition this year. He’s done pretty well for himself,” Johns said.

The nine-goal haul takes Williams to 42 for the season. Eight individual goalkickers all chipped in for a goal each in what was an even team performance by the Roos.

“It was a pretty cruisy game overall, I think Googong were down a couple players, so we weren’t too stressed and just got it done,” Johns continued.

“It was a pretty solid four quarter effort from our guys.

The victory means the Roos will have a bye in the first round of the finals series, before hosting an important home preliminary final clash next weekend.

“This weekend we’ll get the week off and then we’ll play the winner of 3rd vs 6th or 4th vs 5th.

We’ll rest up this week and get the boys right for finals.

“We’ll definitely still continue to train during the break. It’s important to keep the ball skills and fitness levels up ready for the finals. We’ll get a bit of a run in too, maybe not as hard sessions but we’ll definitely be doing a few things.”

ADFA or Goulburn appear to be the most likely opponent for Yass in their preliminary final in week two of the major rounds.

“We lost to Goulburn earlier in the year and beat them towards the end, so it’s always a good battle with them. “ADFA are a bit hit and miss depending on who they bring to the table, so they can either bring their best or not so much. It’ll definitely be interesting as to who we come up against, that’s for sure.”

The Murrumbateman Eagles and Yass Roos sit head and shoulders above the chasing pack in the AFL Canberra Fourth Grade Men’s comp this season, in what is looking to be the likely grand final match-up.

“I’d say between us [Yass] and Murrumbateman we’re probably the two teams to beat. We obviously have beaten them twice this year. A few results just didn’t go our way, but we could’ve been top I reckon.

“I’d be surprised if it wasn’t a Murrumbateman/Yass grand final, but finals are a whole different ball game so anything could happen.”

Tim Warren