Country Championships: South West retain division one title with 19-point grand final victory over Peel

South West have retained their title as the kings of country football, beating Peel by 19 points in the Country Championships division one grand final at Sullivan Logistics Stadium. After an arm wrestle of a first half, the reigning champions produced a trademark run of five unanswered goals through the game’s middle stages, which powered them to an 8.3 (51) to 4.8 (32) victory. The title is the region’s 26th across the 59 years of the championships and adds to a dominant recent run which has seen them end eight of the last 12 editions of the carnival as the winners. South West ruckman Jack Fletcher was awarded the Nutrien Ag Solutions medal for the best player afield following a dominant showing which helped his side boss the battle in the middle of the ground. Former Fremantle prospect Jason Carter was also among the best for the winners after being moved from his more traditional position across half-back into an on-ball role in the championships. Another one-time Docker in Jesse Crichton was also among the South West’s best in defence, while Tom Gorter and Durak Tucker wreaked havoc behind the ball as intercept defenders. Peel were not short of endeavour on the day but ultimately lacked the spread of contributors enjoyed by their opponents. Former WAFL pair Michael Randall — who transferred from Perth to local side South Mandurah before last month’s deadline — and Jacob Dragovich battled hard in the midfield for the Cavaliers, who were featuring in the final for the first time since 2017. The winners broke the game open in a third term where they added three goals and held their opponents without a score. Their first of the quarter came within 30 seconds of the resumption through a brilliant left-foot finish from Carter, which was followed up by Luke English converting a set shot and Zac Trigwell crumbing off a pack to finish from the goal square. Peel’s task of kicking at least four goals in the final term to win the game became appreciably harder when South West key forward Baiden Parsons was rewarded for a strong tackle with the chance to kick his second goal, which he took full advantage of to all but seal the result. Throughout the game, the two teams threatened in differing phases — the ascendancy of Fletcher in the ruck had South West on top at the contest all day, while Peel threatened with their ability to move the ball when the game broke out into space. But as the contest wore on, the impact of three days worth of football began to tell on the Cavaliers, who could not cover the ground with the same verve they had in the earlier stages. After a cagey start to the game which saw both sides miss some chances, the final’s first goal came from a 50m penalty which saw South West’s Jye Clark marched well inside the 50-metre arc, where the brother of Fremantle star Jordan split the major opening with his set shot. The reigning champions added their second of the game only seconds into the second term, with Carter seizing on a perfect hit-out from Fletcher to send his side deep into attack, where Parsons dribbled home from the boundary. Having held relatively firm by conceding only two goals through a South West bombardment in the quarter’s first 10 minutes, Peel reclaimed the lead through Zac Moody finishing what was virtually their first inside-50 entry of the term with a goal and Jeffrey Carter following up only moments later. With only seconds remaining in the term, a South West end-to-end move finished with Liam Creighton making deep in the pocket, where he produced a perfectly-executed snap as the siren sounded to ensure his side were in front at the main break. In the division two grand final, Great Southern secured back-to-back promotions by beating Upper Great Southern by 31 points. Last year’s division three winners earned a place in the top tier at next year’s championships by proving far too good for their neighbours in an 8.4 (52) to 2.9 (21) result. Jyrin Woods kicked four goals for the winners, forming a potent forward combination with former Fremantle and St Kilda player Brett Peake, who soccered home their first major and played a part in several others. A thrilling division three decider saw Lower South West survive a late challenge from Mortlock to win by two points. Mortlock trailed by 27 points at half-time before storming back to give themselves a pair of chances to win the game in the final two minutes, but Peter Coles could not convert either of his difficult set shots as his side went down 8.8 (56) to 8.8 (54). Lower South West returned to the championships this year, having last featured at the carnival in 2019.