Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
SANDHURST will be striving to add to its status as the Bendigo Football League’s most successful club when it contests its first grand final in 10 years on Saturday.
No BFL club has won more than the Dragons’ 27 senior premierships.
However, only three of those flags have come in the past 33 years, the last of which was in 2004 when the Dragons defeated Gisborne by 29 points.
On Saturday the Dragons will chase their 28th senior flag when they clash with Strathfieldsaye at the Queen Elizabeth Oval.
The Dragons are rank outsiders at $6 with Sportsbet, but those odds reflect more on the quality of opposition, rather than the season Sandhurst has put together to earn its grand final shot.
Sandhurst goes into the grand final with an 18-3 record, and also as the only team to have beaten Strathfieldsaye when it crunched the Storm by 79 points in round three.
The Dragons spent 14 of the 18 rounds sitting on top of the ladder and won their first 11 games, including the first seven of those by an average of 82 points when they flew out of the blocks under new coach Brett Fitzpatrick.
It has all started in the middle for the Dragons, where they boast the BFL’s most dominant big man Tim Martin, who polled a record 34 votes last Sunday to win his second Michelsen Medal.
Martin - who dislocated his ankle in the preliminary final last Saturday night - not only gives the Dragons first use of the ball, but has been a constant thorn in the side of the opposition when dropping back into defence and intercept marking.
At the feet of Martin through the midfield has been a star-studded group of onballers headlined by gun recruit Ryan Maldenis, captain Blair Holmes, Nick Stagg (also under an injury cloud), Lee Coghlan and Brodie Montague.
Those five mids have also been dangerous inside 50, kicking 83 goals between them.
One of the aces that has been up the sleeve of Fitzpatrick has been the ability to swing key position players Ben Anderson and Matt Thornton to either end.
Anderson and Thornton have both played starring roles for the Dragons this year, be it at centre half-back or centre half-forward.
One of the weapons the Dragons have used to strong effect has been the slingshot from the back half through the pace and creativity of Codie Price, Harry O’Meara and Jarrod Bateson.
Tom Hartney, Pat Jennings and Andrew O’Connor are no-fuss defenders that also make up a Sandhurst defence that has only given up two scores above 100.
Down the other end, full-forward Ryan Haythopre and X-factor small forward Mitch Dole have both kicked 53 goals.
Haythorpe is the only member of the 2004 premiership team who will line up for the Dragons on Saturday.
The only other BFL premiership player in the side for Sandhurst is wingman Jake McLean, who won a flag with former club Golden Square in 2012.
Lachlan Ross - one of the best set-shots in the BFL - has had a lively season across half-forward, kicking 33 goals, as well as being used in roles in defence.
Sandhurst is represented in all three football grand finals, with its reserves and under-18s also in.
TALE OF THE TAPE:
Won: 18 Lost: 3
Average for: 112.7 Against: 62.3
Quarters won: 66/84
Average win: 61.0 Loss: 27.7
Time in front: 75.0%
Flag: $6.
POINTS DIFFERENCE PER QUARTER:
1st: +168 2nd: +233 3rd: +300 4th: +356
SEASON RESULTS:
Rd 1: D SOUTH BENDIGO BY 51.
Best: C. Price, T. Martin, L. O’Sullivan, R. Maldenis, A. Wharton.
Rd 2: D KYNETON BY 65.
Best: C. Price, T. Martin, M. Dole, R. Maldenis, B. Anderson, M. Thornton.
Rd 3: D STRATHFIELDSAYE BY 79.
Best: B. Anderson, T. Martin, R. Maldenis, A. Wharton, L. O’Sullivan.
Rd 4: D MARYBOROUGH BY 51.
Best: T. Martin, L. Ross, C. Price, A. Wharton, N. Stagg, P. Jennings.
Rd 5: D KANGAROO FLAT BY 107.
Best: R. Maldenis, N. Stagg, C. Price, T. Martin, B. Holmes, R. Haythorpe.
Rd 6: D CASTLEMAINE BY 151.
Best: R. Maldenis, C. Price, B. Holmes, L. Ross, A. O’Connor, N. Stagg.
Rd 7: D GISBORNE BY 73.
Best: L. Ross, J. Wharton, R. Haythorpe, M. Dole, A. O’Connor.
Rd 8: D GOLDEN SQUARE BY 9.
Best: T. Martin, M. Thornton, P. Jennings, C. Price, B. Montague.
Rd 9: D EAGLEHAWK BY 33.
Best: B. Holmes, M. Thornton, P. Jennings, A. Wharton, B. Anderson.
Rd 10: D SOUTH BENDIGO BY 124.
Best: R. Haythorpe, J. Wharton, T. Martin, M. Thornton, L. O’Sullivan.
Rd 11: D KYNETON BY 43.
Best: T. Martin, A. Wharton, J. Wharton, N. Stagg, B. Holmes.
Rd 12: LT STRATHFIELDSAYE BY 22.
Best: H. O’Meara, P. Jennings, J. McLean, L. Ross, A. Weddell.
Rd 13: D MARYBOROUGH BY 55.
Best: M. Thornton, J. Wharton, L. Ross, T. Martin, C. Price, B. Montague.
Rd 14: D KANGAROO FLAT BY 23.
Best: N. Stagg, T. Martin, B. Montague, R. Haythorpe, B. Holmes, L. Coghlan.
Rd 15: D CASTLEMAINE BY 104.
Best: C. Price, H. O’Meara, B. Montague, L. Coghlan, P. Jennings.
Rd 16: D GISBORNE BY 69.
Best: R. Maldenis, M. Thornton, B. Holmes, L. Ross, T. Martin.
Rd 17: D GOLDEN SQUARE BY 56.
Best: M. Thornton, L. Ross, L. Coghlan, H. O’Meara, B. Anderson, B. Montague.
Rd 18: LT EAGLEHAWK BY 19.
Best: A. O’Connor, N. Stagg, J. Coghlan, C. Price, M. Thornton.
Qual final: D GISBORNE BY 42.
Best: L. Coghlan, R. Maldenis, T. Martin, J. Wharton, B. Montague.
2nd semi: LT STRATHFIELDSAYE BY 42.
Best: L. Coghlan, T. Martin, L. Ross, R. Maldenis, N. Stagg, B. Evans.
Prelim: D GISBORNE BY 5.
Best: R. Haythorpe, B. Evans, C. Price, T. Cole, T. Martin, M. Dole.