Round 18 - Sunday August 24, 2008
Riverina Football League
Venue: Ganmain Sportsground 2.10pm
Umpires: Ryan Dedini and Tony Butler (RUA) 
Ganmain-GGM .... 6.0 .. 12.6 .. 18.12 .. 26.17 (173)
Griffith .................. 0.2 .. 1.5 .. 1.7 .. 2.8 (20)
GANMAIN-GRONG GRONG-MATONG: Justin Evans/Paul Hamblin, Marc Kelly, Mitch Fennessey; Paul Lucas, Christen McPherson, Luke Habel; Curtis Steele, Daniel Rankin (capt), Daniel Hitchins; Jack Kaye, John Campbell, Mitchell Steele; Travis Carroll, Anthony Carroll, Rhys Clark; Scott Hamblin, Lachlan Steward, Matt Rava; Kirk Hamblin, Pat Walsh, David Karlberg
GRIFFITH: Robert Bridgen, Jeff Mickan, Simon Spiers; Jonathon Gastin, James Smith, Jason Bertacco; Luke Piccolo, Michael Johns, Matthew Kenny; Daniel Keenan, James Toscan, Andrew Cappello; Jack Geddes, Craig Conlan, Kris Duncan; Shaun Curran, Ben Ford, Brett Owen; Cameron Harrison, Michael Tyndall, Jack Tyrell 
GOALS
Ganmain-GGM: T Carroll 10, A Carroll 5, R Clark 3, C Steele 2, P Walsh 2, J Kaye, L Habel, K Hamblin, P Lucas 
Griffith: S Curran, B Owen 
BEST PLAYERS
Ganmain-GGM: T Carroll, M Kelly, C Steele, D Rankin, L Habel, A Carroll 
Griffith: B Owen, S Spiers, J Smith, C Conlan, S Curran, M Johns.

A summary of match report, with thanks
Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong secured the Riverina Football League minor premiership with a 153-point annihilation of Griffith at Ganmain Sportsground. The game proved to be little more than a training run for the rampant Lions as Griffith's season ended at rock bottom, losing the contest 26.17 (173) to 2.8 (20). With a couple of key players on the sideline and an inexperienced line-up on the field, Griffith failed to make any impression on the scoreboard, managing just one goal in the dying minutes of each half.

Griffith coach Gerard Toscan said GGGM was on a roll after kicking six straight goals in the first term, putting the Swans into nosedive they could not pull out of. "Our skills really dropped off; we dropped a lot of marks. We missed a lot of hand ball targets, and we missed our set shots when we did not have them," Toscan said. "The bright lights were Shaun Curran dominating in the ruck, but we couldn't make anything of it, but Brett Owen, Craig Conlan and Michael Johns were good for us as well."

Griffith was also missing the services of gun on-baller Mick Duncan, who was suspended, but was also under a fitness cloud, after carrying a groin injury for the past five weeks. "Mick is actually going up to the Northern Territory to play footy, but hopefully he will get the proper treatment before he heads off so he can come back next season at 100 per cent," Toscan said.

Travis Carroll enjoyed a day out up forward for GGGM, booting 10 goals, while Anthony Carroll's five second-quarter majors were enough to seal the league's goal kicking title for a second consecutive year. The win puts GGGM in the box seat to make its fourth grand final in five years, while the Lions will also now enjoy the opening of finals off. GGGM co-coach Daniel Rankin said he could not have asked for any more of the players. "It was fantastic, Griffith was the only team we haven't beaten this season, so we made our goal at the start of the game to do that and finish on top," Rankin said. "It was a really good four-quarter effort."

"The top spot means we're a better chance to make it through to the grand final and that's what we've got to aim for now."  While the two Carroll's were good up forward for the Lions, it was hard to pick out the best players for GGGM given the evenness of the performance Marc Kelly was solid at full-back, Christen McPherson was also good in defence, while Luke Habel, Jack Kaye and Mitch Steele were all terrific.

(The Area News - August 25, 2008). 

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OTHER MATCHES - SAT: Coolamon 10.13 (73) def Mangoplah-CUE 9.15 (69), Leeton-Whitton 28.22 (190) def North Wagga 1.7 (13), Wagga 13.8 (86) def Turvey Park 13.6 (84); SUN: Narrandera 22.18 (150) def Eastern Hawks 16.12 (108).

Reserves: Ganmain-GGM 20.20 (130) def Griffith 3.2 (20) 
Goals: B Jaffrey, C McGann, T Henderson 
Best players: G Foley, M Tyndall, R Best, L Catanzariti, R Bull, M McDonell
Under 18: Ganmain-GGM 16.16 (112) def Griffith 5.7 (37)
Goals: J Tyrell 2, C Moore, S Wood, R McLean
Best players: F Bruton, H Heath, J Corbett, H Shaw, J Tyrell, B Hutchinson