Swans On Screen
HISTORY IN RED AND WHITE
Preliminary Final - Sunday September 7, 2025 at Narrandera Sportsground @ 2.45pm
Coolamon Rovers ... 1.3 .. 3.8 .. 4.10 .. 4.12 (36)
Ganmain-GGM ........ 1.2 .. 3.3 .. 7.8 .. 10.11 (71)
Goals - Coolamon: J Robinson 2, J Curtis, A Macauley
GGGM: J Powell 2, J Olsson 2, T Banuelos 2, M Hamblin, D Foley, J Fairman, S Butterfield
Best players - Coolamon: C McKelvie, C Mattingly, B Glyde, M King, N Lees, R Mitchell
GGGM: J Olsson, T Anderson, J Powell, Z Burhop, M Hamblin, J Sase
Coolamon Rovers:- Campbell Mattingly, Nick Lees, Luke McLoughlin; Braeden Glyde, Tim Coenan, Reilly Mitchell; Joshua Allen, Neil Pleming, Jack Rudd; Ryan Allen, Jacob Robinson, Mitchell King; Aiden Macauley, Nick Buchanan, Joe Redfern; Adian Ledson, Luke Redfern, Cooper McKelvie; Archie Perrot, Oscar Perrot, Jade Curtis, Tom Pumpa. Coach: Gavin McMahon.
Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong:- Jack Sase, Joshua Walsh (c), Boston Macri; Zachary Burhop, Seb Hamblin, Tom Quinn; Luke Hatty, Matthew Hamblin, Nate Hamblin; Joe Foley, Tom Banuelos, Shannon Butterfield; Jake Fairman, Jacob Olsson, Jack Powell; Daniel Foley, Jesse Lander, Tom Anderson; Jack McCaig, Sidney White, Brad Matters, Braith Gain. Coach: Sam Martyn.
Umpires: Troy Mavroudis, Brock Cunningham and Keiran Simpson (RUA)
Reports: Tom Banuelos (GGGM), after a review of footage for a second-quarter incident involving Reilly Mitchell (Coolamon). Graded as careless, with contact to the body and medium impact - offered a reprimand with an early guilty plea.
Media report - By Jimmy Meiklejohn: Ganmain-GGM will get a shot at grand final redemption after the Lions defeated Coolamon by 35 points to lock in their spot in the decider. A 30-minute wait for lightning delayed proceedings at Narrandera Sportsground, adding to the theatre already attached to the clash between the two local rivals.
Once the game commenced, rain fell for the majority of the first half, with the Hoppers adjusting slightly better to be ahead by five points at the main break. However, once the deck started to dry a bit, it was the Lions who took control, booting seven goals to one in the second half to run out 10.11 (71) to 4.12 (36) winners.
Facing changing and at times difficult conditions, Martyn was proud of his side for overcoming quite a strong challenge from thew Hoppers. "Obviously the sweetest thing is a grand final victory, but it doesn't get too much closer than that," Martyn said. "We understand where we fell down two weeks ago, to be able to rectify it against Turvey, who we consider a really strong football team in 2025, and then to be able to weather the condition and stay in the game, so to speak, and then break it open in the third and fourth, was just outstanding. "I'm incredibly proud of the resilience that we displayed today."
Booting seven goals to one after halftime, Martyn agreed the drier conditions were more favourable than the crash and bash style of play that took part in the opening two terms. "As that lightning and that rain came, doubts do creep in about whether you're gone too tall and if you've set up the correct way," he said. "We think our talls are very mobile and they can still compete in the air and on the ground, once the conditions did dry up and it was more conductive to fast play. I think you were able to see what we can produce when we're allowed to."
Martyn praised Jacob Olsson's effort down back, noting his experience was hugely pivotal in what was a crucial stage of the contest. "He was phenomenal," he said. "Dan Foley and Olsso are really intuitive in that they understand what the game requires of that moment. "Dan is just as valuable forward as he is in the ruck and Olsso is vice-versa, the game probably demanded that Olsso went back there at that time. "He was able to be a real foil for a lot of their attacking raids; he was able to stand tall and be a real asset to us in that period of time."
In the last quarter, it was teenager Boston Macri who stood tall, shutting down a number of opportunities for the Hoppers. Martyn was rapt to see Macri show his abilities in a big game, noting it was a huge moment in his development. "Wasn't he terrific?' he said. "We've spoken about a couple of these boys becoming men and Boston had his boy-to-man moment. "He was instrumental in stopping their attacking raids, but his composure for a 16-year-old kid, to stand up and win those moments, it's a real credit to him."
The only sour note from the preliminary final victory for the Lions is the potential hamstring injury to defender Tom Quinn. Martyn is another who could be touch and go for the decider after he decided to not risk any chance of further damage to his hamstring and sit out of the preliminary final. "I might've been able to get through, but I didn't want to take the risk," he said. "Now I give myself every opportunity to get up next week against the Demons," in what will be Sam Martyn's last game as GGGM coach.
While disappointed to not be playing in a grand final, Hoppers coach Gavin McMahon agreed his side had closed the gap between themselves and the top two sides. "Whilst it's still a bit raw right now, I think we have come a long way," McMahon said. "The top two sides were 10-goal better sides than us coming into the season, and we're pretty proud of the boys that they have closed that gap over the year, But, it doesn't make it any better not winning that one."
"I thought our first half was pretty good. Some critical poor decisions hurt us in the third quarter. One of the rules of footy is you don't get beaten by what you know. "We did what we knew we shouldn't do, and ultimately it hurt us. That's why it's a bit harder to take than normal."
"I'm just really proud of them for their commitment level to their footy and preparation. "They all had a go, and we didn't have any passengers as such; we just had a number of blokes who didn't play very well today. Ganmain had a lot more, and they made most of their chances; they deserved to win." Source - The Daily Advertiser, Sept 9-10, 2025.
Reserves
Collingullie-Wagga ... 3.2 .. 4.5 .. 7.8 .. 9.9 (63)
Ganmain-GGM ......... 1.2 .. 2.3 .. 2.4 .. 4.8 (32)
Goals - Collingullie: Matt Geppert 3, Sam Durnan, Cameron Greenway, Ryan Kemp, Zac Billingham, Fergis Inglis, Zac Burkinshaw
Ganmain-GGM: Jethro Peck, Jakob Taylor, Charlie Smith, Lachlan Parker
Best players - Collingullie: Ryan Collins, Will Hughes, Luke Murray, Luke Cogswell, Sam Durnan, Brandon Downie
Ganmain-GGM: Ashton Lantzke, Sam Hatty, Samuel Longmore, Matthew Foley, Jake Underwood, Joel Bryce
Umpires: Andrew Tough, Craig Fletcher and Brad Wild (RUA)
Under 17.5
Collingullie-Wagga ... 1.0 .. 4.1 .. 4.2 .. 8.5 (53)
Leeton-Whitton ....... 7.6 .. 8.9 .. 12.12 .. 15.13 (103)
Goals - Collingullie: Hayden Donohue 3, Cameron Morphett 2, Abdul Conteh 2, Brody Campbell
Leeton-Whitton: Eli Doyle 7, Cruz Wallace 3, Jaxon Steele 2, Luke Bechaz, Jez Lashbrook
Best players - Collingullie: Nic Woods, Kye Howard, Brody Campbell, Hayden Donohue, Neo Murtagh
Leeton-Whitton: Eli Doyle, Cruz Hickey, Elliott Clayton, Cooper Jones, Jaxon. Steele, Luke Bechaz
Umpires: Michael Jones, Craig Tilston and Chris Kleeman (RUA)
Netball - A Grade: Coolamon 51 def by Griffith 61, A Reserve: Mangoplah 47 def Wagga Tigers 39, B Grade: Griffith 50 def Coolamon 46, C Grade: Mangoplah 44 def Coolamon 29, Under 17: Wagga Tigers 25 def by Mangoplah 32.