They might not yet be the biggest crowd puller in the VFL, but there’s no denying the lessons of North Ballarat’s back-to-back premierships. While Port Melbourne and Frankston proudly standalone but wonder whether they can ever win a premiership against an AFL-aligned side and many fully aligned clubs struggle to find the kind of cohesion that brings success, the Roosters have no such problems.
What would be the point of North Ballarat fielding a team dominated by AFL players? How could the club genuinely claim to represent the City of Ballarat if its local boys weren’t in the majority in any grand final side? Blessed with a half alignment that gives the team eight elite footballers on grand final day whilst leaving hope for another fourteen Ballarat boys the Roosters have a model that not only guarantees success but also ensures that its VFL boys rule the roost.
Friday night’s grand final victory over the Bullants was different in a number of ways from the win over Port the year before. Wounded by injury and lacking speed, Port Melbourne seemed incapable of winning in 2008. In 2009 the Bullants had the fitness and the players to genuinely challenge the Roosters. What they didn’t have was the cohesion and the clarity of purpose that has become the Roosters trademark. Rattled early by ruckman Orren Stephenson’s uncanny ability to drift across halfback and block their path to goal the Bullants never completely cast off the look of confusion.
Defenders Marc Greig, Shaune Moloney and Michael Searl epitomise the sense of purpose that makes the Roosters so formidable. Whilst there are many others - Matt Sharkey, Daniel Feery, Myles Sewell and Stephen Clifton among them - who could be named as bricks upon which the club’s winning culture is built, the selflessness of these three makes them unique.
Whether it’s ‘Spider’ Moloney, all arms and legs spoiling a dangerous forward, Searl marking coolly under the pressure of a pack of players or Greig, with those steely eyes corralling an opponent in his mind before carrying out the deed, they are true VFL champions. Although Searl was off injured at half-time and Moloney lowered his colours to an inspiring Cameron Cloke, Searl’s spirit never left the field and Moloney never looked conquered. It was this spirit and Greig’s refusal to let the any of the speedsters unleash a bust of goals, as much as anything else in the game that enabled the tiring Roosters to win the flag. And it came in the face of a torrid opening thirteen minutes in the last quarter in which the Bullants kicked three goals. Other backlines might well have capitulated.
There isn’t a losing grand final coach who hasn’t asked himself whether a strategic move might have eluded him. So, I’d be surprised if David Teague hasn’t wondered whether he should have sent one of his ruckmen forward with Stephenson? Was Adam Hartlett’s hamstring problem such that he was off his game psychologically, and did the Bullants get the match-ups in their back six, right? Despite the raft of questions it was a year to remember for Teague and the Bullants.
That Teague, his players, and assistant coach Martin Pike would stand within metres of the presentation of the premiership cup says a lot about the character of the men and the club. The Bullants have come a long way in 2009. So too has Roosters coach Gerard FitzGerald. Although he has no official role with the Kangaroos, FitzGerald has nothing to prove. He is quite simply a master coach and would be so if he were coaching in the AFL. And the problem for other teams is that his team, like its coach, will only get better.
It was a crying shame only 14 000 people were at Etihad Stadium. Although the crowd was bigger than last year, it must surely cast doubt on future grand finals at Etihad. No matter how good a venue Etihad might be for spectators, it is ultimately a day for the players. You just can’t compare the atmosphere of 14 000 people at Etihad with what we (Coburg) experienced going back-to-back at Windy Hill in front of a similar sized crowd in 1988/89. Players want and need atmosphere on grand final day. They need to hear the roar of the crowd and taste the partisanship that flows across the terraces in a grand final. A return to Prince Park, or for real atmosphere, Port Melbourne, looks to be the only solution if the VFL is to rear its head above the euphoria of an AFL grand final.

PHIL CLEARY