Peel Cavaliers power to back-to-back titles at Great Southern Colts Carnival outgunning Great Southern Storm

Peel Cavaliers have again flexed their muscle, winning back-to-back titles at the Great Southern Colts Carnival in Kulin on Sunday. The Cavaliers proved too strong for the Great Southern Storm, with their powerful midfield and aerial domination key factors in the 37-point grand final triumph. Bailey Jokic produced a brilliant grand final display to earn best-on-ground honours and led the way in an outstanding midfield brigade while key forward Callen Sprigg was the game’s only multiple goalkicker in the 8.9 (57) to 3.2 (20) victory. The two unbeaten sides from day one of the historic carnival met in this year’s decider but a slick Cavaliers outfit had the only two majors of the first quarter. When co-captain Jokic burst away from a centre clearance and booted a long-range goal the alarm bells were ringing for the Storm early in the second term. The Storm rallied however as Jed Schwazbach converted a set shot and then Shane Ugle kicked a major after taking advantage from a free kick, pulling the margin back to single figures. But the Cavaliers found steadying goals through crafty forward Ben O’Loughlin and then Taylen Collins, the second coming from a defensive blunder from the Storm, as they took a 20-point lead into half-time. The Cavaliers quickly deflated any Storm comeback hope inside the first three minutes of the third term, as the dangerous Rohan Janczyk and co-captain Campbell Millar pushed their advantage beyond 30 points. A downfield free kick gifted Jaiden Mole a goal late in the term but the Storm still had an enormous task ahead of them, trailing by 28 points at the last change. The only goal in the fourth came from Sprigg, who had created headaches all afternoon, as the Cavaliers surged to another dominant title win. Jokic was outstanding at the stoppages and drove the ball forward with great effect, winning the Clem Bray award after being judged fairest and best in the grand final. Cavalier teammates Spence Wiggers, Nick Sarsero and Sprigg were also highly influential. The Storm were outmuscled by their bigger and stronger opponents, well beaten in the midfield and struggled to find any winners in the front half. Co-captain Caleb Haua, who got up after a nasty shoulder injury late on Saturday, led from the front with a gutsy performance through the middle. Mitch Paine was brilliant in leading a defensive unit that was under constant pressure and Tom Geddes also played well. Kaleb Germain won plenty of the ball but didn’t have his usual impact while surprisingly star Teague Valli spent large parts of the grand final at half forward. The carnival awards were announced at the conclusion of the decider with talented Esperance midfielder Riley Mayfield winning the Harry Reeves Medal as the fairest and best player across the two days. Earlier in the day, Goldfields managed to claim third place despite kicking 15 behinds in an enthralling struggle with Esperance. Kieran Douglas put Esperance up at quarter-time but an inaccurate Goldfields took until the final quarter to kick their first major. Esperance scored only a sole behind in the second half and Goldfields actually held a five-point lead at three quarter time despite having only 13 behinds on the board. Chase Stubbs finally ended the drought as Goldfields went on to win by 13 points, 1.15 (21) to 1.2 (8). Upper Great Southern finished their carnival on a high, claiming fifth place with a 51-point thumping of Lower South West. Six unanswered goals in the second half guided Upper Great Southern to playoff victory as Noah Logie booted five goals. Logie was well supported by Shaun Garlett and Riley Holden as they finished winners 11.9 (75) to 3.6 (24). In the battle for seventh and eighth place, four goals in the first and third quarters from Eastern Districts proved too much for Ongerup. Eastern Districts emerged 66-point victors as Hugo Stockman (two goals) and Max Nicholls (four) ran riot. A strong crowd was on hand to witness the 2024 edition of the carnival that was played in near-perfect conditions at the Freebairn Recreation Centre.