Sport
16 September, 2024
Rebels produce another massive fightback to reach Talent League grand final
GWV Rebels through to Coates Talent League grand final
COATES TALENT LEAGUE
REDAN'S Jonty Faull has led the Greater Western Victoria Rebels into the grand final of the Coates Talent League, inspiring a last-quarter fightback in a thrilling match against Oakleigh Chargers on Sunday afternoon
In blustery wind at RSEA Park, the Rebels came from 16 points down at the last change against a woefully inaccurate Chargers to win 10.10 (70) to 8.18 (66).
Faull was dynamic up forward and should have rocketed up the AFL Draft order, booting five goals for the match, including the go-ahead goal at the 19 minute mark of the last quarter.
This comes off the back of his four-goals in the quarter final the previous week against Geelong Falcons.
Jack Ough then put the Rebels 10 points clear with four minutes on the clock before a late charge from Oakleigh, reduced the margin to just four points with three minutes to play.
But the Rebels held their nerve in the desperate final moments to qualify for the grand final, giving the club its first chance at a premiership since Sydney Swans legend Adam Goodes burst onto the scene in 1997.
Coach David Loader said he couldn't have bee more proud of his team after the come-from-behind win.
"They didn't quit," he said. "It's something we've spoken about over the last few games, when we got four or five games out from the end of the season and we started to get all our good players back, we said 'right, we need to knuckle down now and show the footy world what we are capable of as a group'.
"The kids have just been able to find answers as we are going, we've chopped and changed so much, it was so similar to last week."
Loader said Faull was giving a lot of AFL clubs something serious to think about.
"He's going to give the clubs at the top of the Draft," he said. "Good players play well in big games. He's certainly had the opportunity to do that, but he's been fantastic, he works so hard at his craft all the time, we are just rapt for him and how he is going. He's got more to do."
The Rebels will meet the Sandringham Dragons in the grand final after the Dragons thumped the Dandenong Stingrays by 51 points in the other preliminary final with Bailey McKenzie a stand-out up forward for the Dragons with six goals.
"We're really looking forward to next week, the experience of the playing group," he said.
"I don't think the Rebels have been there since Goodes' day in 1997, that's a few years now, almost 30 years, wow.
"We just had so many injuries all season, it's been hard to compete, but as a country region to make it now, the country region with the smallest population, we are fighting way out of our weight division, it's a credit to the kids that keep performing and doing what they are doing."
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