Geelong Buccaneers finished runner-up in Gridiron Victoria’s Division 1 competition after going down to Western Crusaders in the Vic Bowl.
After just one loss this season, their first in a number of years, the Crusaders were able to turn the tables on the only team to beat them on Saturday 13 December.
After a delayed start, the Crusaders were able to come away with a 21-6 win and their eighth title in a row.
Crusaders’ Tyson Garnham said it was special to win another one.
“Eight in a row is amazing,” he said.
“It was an interesting day to say the least with the game delayed by one and half hours. We kept everyone focused and were able to come through in the end.”
With lightning in the Melton area, the action at Macpherson Reserve was halted across a number of matches.
It meant the Division 1 game, which was meant to start at 3.30pm, started about 5pm.
There had been some talk of the game being called off if the lightning didn’t disappear.
Garnham said that under the rules they would have claimed the championship if the game was called off, but said it would have been a hollow victory.
“We wanted to play,” he said.
“We would have played them whenever. We would have played them today (Sunday) if we had to. The Buccaneers beat us last time and we weren’t at strength.
“It would have been disappointing, it was good to get out there.”
Once out there, the Crusaders were focused on the task at hand.
Garnham said the defensive group had done a lot of work studying footage of the Buccaneers after the last match.
“A lot of their looks and plays, we knew what they were going to do,” he said.
“We were able to lock down a lot of their key players they had last time.”
With a healthy offence, the Crusaders were able to take advantage of holes in the defence and score.
“We had a lot of penalties which made it difficult,” Garnham said.
“When we got the third score, that sealed the game in my mind. They (the Buccaneers) still fought it out to the end, but we knew they had run out of time. We had to do everything in our control to make sure we beat them.”
Garnham was named the player of the match. He scored two touchdowns in the win.
He said it was a nice honour to cap off the day.
“I couldn’t have done it without the team and without our quarterback Astin Hewett who threw me a lot of the ball,” he said.
