No AFL, but there was footy

There was no AFL last Saturday. But there was footy. You just had to know where to find it. In Sydney, it was Blacktown International Sportspark.

The North Eastern Australian Football League (NEAFL) is in its sixth season. It was created to provide a credible competition for the northern states’ reserves, an outlet for the best Northern Territory talent, and something for community clubs to aspire to.

In six seasons, the league hasn’t been without its issues and has had several changes of format; and some clubs have withdrawn to the state leagues due to the travel and other costs. But the ten clubs that remain provide a solid foundation for second-tier footy in the non-traditional AFL states.

In 2016, the competition has been dominated by the Swans and Giants Reserves teams; who finished as the top two. In a final six system, they went straight through to the preliminary finals, which were played as a double-header at Blacktown on Saturday.

The Swans were up first, taking on Aspley Hornets. The Hornets are a Brisbane-based community club who have punched above their weight in NEAFL history.

Twice they’ve knocked off the Giants in preliminary finals at Blacktown, and last year fell just barely short of the premiership.

NEAFL rules limited the Swans to 15 AFL-listed players; the Swans’ low injury toll meant they were able to fill their full entitlement of 15. The remaining players in the Swans team came from their Academy.

Plenty of Swans fans came along, decked out in their red and white and sitting in the grandstand. And a few dedicated Aspley volunteers paid their own way to come, decorating the boundary fence with brown and gold balloons.

It was blowing a gale, and the Swans were kicking with it in the first term. But it was clear that there was a serious mismatch in playing talent between the two teams, the Hornet’s hopes being burst as quickly as the balloons.

Five goals to one saw the Swans leading by 26 points at the first change.

The Hornets were unable to make anything of their turn with the wind in the second term. The Swans were controlling the ball; and although the conditions made long kicking impractical, turnovers were relatively few and the Hornets weren’t able to accumulate enough possession to put the Swans under any meaningful pressure.

The Swans kicked two goals to one into the wind, and with a 33-point lead at the long break were looking comfortable.

It was one-way traffic in the third term, as the Swans were again kicking with the wind and dominating in general play. The only chink in the red and white armour was some appalling inaccuracy, as several shots that should have gone through sailed wide of the big sticks.

The Hornets, lacking opportunities up forward as they struggled to get possession, were held to one point. The Swans’ dominance was reflected on the scoreboard, and had they kicked straighter than their return of 4.10 for the quarter, the lead would have been far greater than the 66 points that separated the two sides at three quarter time.

The last quarter was largely going through the motions, but the Swans added another four goals to two to complete a devastating 82-point win.

There were many winners around the ground for the Swans; but Jeremy Laidler, Toby Nankervis and Nick Newman were standouts. For the Hornets, Douglas Lawrence, Henry Joyce and Matthew Payne tried hard all day.

Next up was the Giants’ Reserves, playing under the banner of the University of Western Sydney Giants. It was a day when University pride was on the line; as they were up against Sydney Uni, an institution that has a record of success at local club level in many sports.

Admission was $10, and the canteen was doing a brisk trade in food and an even bigger one in beer sales. The sun was shining, the wind had eased to some degree and the crowd had swelled to fill the grandstand; with some fans electing to take in some sun on the hill.

The first game had plenty of applause when the Swans did things well; but it was clear from the start that the atmosphere would be louder this time. Sydney Uni had bussed supporters in, mainly players from their divisional teams that weren’t playing finals.

Many in fancy dress, it didn’t take long for them to raucously launch into song. “We are the Uni, the Sydney Uni. We are mental and we are mad” rang out across the ground.

The Sydney Uni team included former Collingwood and Western Bulldogs player Tom Young and former Kangaroo Will Sierakowski. But they were no match for a Giants team that, like the Swans, had used their full entitlement of 15 AFL-listed players.

The Giants team topped up by Academy players. From the start, the Giants controlled the ball set up a 35-point quarter time lead. Emotions were strong as a melee broke out on the quarter time siren, and the crowd was loving it.

The students weren’t having the monopoly on the noise, as the GWS Cheer Squad set themselves up on the hill, every goal being greeted with the trademark “Here Come The Giants” chant echoing around the ground.

The chant would be sung out four more times in the second term, as the Giants again had the bulk of possession and looked in control of proceedings. The Students finally broke their scoring drought to land two goals in the second term, but with the Giants 50 points to the good at the long break, there was no doubt where this game was going.

But to their credit, the Students refused to throw in the towel, and won the third term. It wasn’t a quarter that reached any great heights, as the wind picked up again and numerous turnovers and out-on-the-fulls would result. It was two goals apiece, with the margin 48 points at the last change.

But that was as close as the Students would get. The Giants flag was flying around the ground during three-quarter time; and the Giants were coming home with the wind in the final term.

The Orange Army roared their approval as the Giants added six unanswered goals in the last quarter, blowing the final margin out to 87 points; before a rendition of the team song and the flags giving a guard of honour to the players as they left the field.

Rhys Palmer had a great day up forward to finish with four goals in a best-on-ground performance, while Jack Steele and Daniel Lloyd also featured prominently. Despite the heavy loss for the Students, the efforts of Tom Young, Tim Barton and Lewis Stevenson couldn’t be faulted.

For both the Swans and the Giants, the job was easily done. They’ll be meeting in the NEAFL grand final next week; while the Seniors will be playing in a historic Sydney Derby final at ANZ Stadium.

At this stage we don’t know when and where the NEAFL will be played; but hopefully the fans can easily attend both.

Before the NEAFL double-header, North Shore came from behind to defeat UNSW-ES in the Under 19s. Afterwards, a local Premier Division game saw East Coast Eagles too good for St George.

It was an enjoyable day of footy. Despite rain during the week, Blacktown was looking a treat.
We’ve got a massive week of footy in Sydney coming up.

Already the Harbour Bridge is lit up with images of Giants and Swans players. It’s finals time, with a big crowd expected at ANZ Stadium on Saturday for a Derby Final. And the same clubs battling it out for the NEAFL flag.