Heidelberg have secured a historic Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 three-peat, following a comprehensive Grand Final victory over Montmorency to the tune of 40 points at Preston City Oval.
The result lodges itself in the history books, with the Tigers securing their 23rd NFNL senior men’s flag. It also helped cap off a famous day in the club’s history, as they became the first club since 1975 to win three top flight men’s premierships in the same season following success for their Under 19.5’s and reserves sides on Saturday.
The men in yellow and black led from start to finish, playing with a star pedigree of one of the great NFNL sides. While the Magpies fought doggedly to break their 45-year senior men’s premiership drought, Vin Dattoli’s side extended their lead at every break to comfortably surge home in a 9.19 (73) to 4.9 (33) victory.
Only a year on from an ACL injury, Ben De Bolfo completed an incredible comeback story by claiming the medal for best on ground. His clean sweeping efforts along the defensive line spurred on the Tigers ball movement, with the 22-year-old frequently taking intercept marks and tackling ferociously.
The ever-dangerous midfield duo of Luke Bunker and Lachlan Wilson starred again on the big stage, winning the clearance battle against Marcus Lentini and Nash Holmes.
Fresh off the confidence of a Frank Rosbrook Medal, Tom Keys continued his stellar season, impacting heavily in the ruck and down forward.
The Tigers started as they endeavoured to continue, red-hot and relentless in the contest.
There were no signs of Grand Final nerves, as Nathan Honey provided the perfect start, steadying himself from a contest and spearing through a goal from 30 metres in front of a packed hill of Heidelberg faithful.
A solitary behind a minute later for the Magpies would signify their only scoring chance until late in the term, as the relentless Tigers claimed the following nine scores, but only for two goals.
Across all avenues, the men in yellow and black dictated the play, with a Montmorency backline renowned for their composure forced into long hopeful clearing kicks and repeated turnovers.
Solomon Mckay and Sam Wright each claimed majors, but poor goalkicking was the only blemish on an otherwise dominant opening term.
With only seconds left on the clock for the first quarter, Benjamin Crick capitalised on his side’s forward pressure in a rare inside 50, forcing a turnover and securing his side’s first goal of the game to the relief of the sizeable Montmorency contingent.
With the lead at just 18 points, the margin remained in arms reach, but the Tigers approached quarter-time having set an incredibly high barometer of intensity for the Magpies to match.
Upon his return to the side from injury, captain Stefan Uzelac aspired to will his team on, working courageously in the ruck and as a forward option.
Flynn Riley interchanged with his captain and looked to be the Magpies desired one-on-one target inside forward 50, but the structure and pressure they were under again meant they struggled to find footing in the contest.
Brody Tardio converted the Tigers first goal of the second term from a set-shot, before a string of chances continued to go awry.
The score would show 4.10 for the minor premiers, before Flynn Riley finally managed to craft a response off the back of a leaping mark and set-shot conversion.
At just one goal apiece in the quarter’s dying moments, Nathan Honey found himself completely unmarked in his forward 50 arc, before calmly nailing a set-shot to ensure Heidelberg would extend their lead to 25 points at the main break.
Nick Rutley’s men looked to spark a comeback reminiscent of last week’s preliminary final at the third term’s onset.
Raising their pressure beyond Heidelberg, Nicholas Green seized his moment with a poaching kick off the ground within three minutes, but the Magpies again would fail to secure back-to-back majors.
Roving with class off a ruck-tap, Lachlan Wilson’s response was immediate. In traffic, the left foot snap sailed through cleanly to inch him closer to a fourth senior flag in Heidelberg colours.
Nash Holmes and Tom Keys would trade blows to end the third term, but as the siren echoed across Preston City Oval, a 28-point lead appeared more like a mountain to climb for a brave but tiring Montmorency outfit.
If there were any hopes of a miraculous comeback, they were quickly quashed by the poise and certainty of Heidelberg’s ball movement.
Sean Martin, Keenan Posar and Ben De Bolfo were the generals, defending against any momentum spark, and Magpie legs began to tire as a turnaround became increasingly implausible.
On a day of inaccuracies in front of goal, 2024 Team of the Year full-back Daniel O’Dwyer took a rare set-shot with confidence and put his side’s hands well and truly on the premiership cup.
Brody Tardio joined the celebrations with his own major in time-on, marking over the top of his opponent and slotting through a goal which would cement the Tigers as premiers for the third consecutive year.
As the final siren sounded, a euphoric crowd leapt the fences and descended upon the ground to write another fantastic chapter in Heidelberg’s history, a dynasty and a legacy amongst the league’s greatest ever teams.
