The Sunbury Kangaroos left no stone untouched but fell short at the final hurdle in the Essendon District Football League division 2 competition.
The fairytale story of the competition having lost their first five games before sneaking into finals and making a grand final, Saturday’s grand final against Oak Park was one step too fair.
Oak Park, which was in the grand final for a second straight season, showed why it had been the best team all season on Saturday, winning 20.15 (135)-8.5 (53).
Sunbury coach Shanon Carroll said it was a bittersweet feeling after the match.
“We believed we could do it,” he said. “It was a different journey to get there, that is for sure.
“I think the cold heart light of day, Oak Park was the best side all year and they’ve been thereabouts for two years or so now.
“The game was probably gone half way through the third quarter. They [the Sunbury players] are happy with being where they have got to, but you can tell they are not satisfied. If anything there’s a taste now of what has to be done.”
After a physical win against Taylors Lakes in the preliminary final, Sunbury had it’s challenges in the lead up to the grand final.
Jordan James received the news he had done his ACL in the preliminary final win and would miss the grand final and most of next season.
Captain Mitch Streiff faced the tribunal on Tuesday night and then went to an appeals hearing on Thursday night to try and play. He received a two-week suspended suspension.
Ruck Brenton Sutherland, who missed the preliminary final, was ruled out having torn his plantar fasciitis.
Carroll said in the end it was all too much.
“There’s a number of stories out there,” he said. “Mitch Streiff although he got through [the tribunal] he was still touch and go with a bad corkie.
“John Corso has played with a torn calf from the start of the finals, he is just an absolute bull.
“Brody Watts has a slight knee… The list goes on. That is why last week wasn’t just about making a grand final, it was about how our soldiers kept falling down and just wanted to stand up in that moment.
“Unfortunately this week, it was too much of an avalanche. It’s a good learning curve, there’s some mental toughness to take out of it, that is for sure.”
Carroll said on the day they were just beaten by a better team. He said while they didn’t play the way they would have liked, there were no excuses.
“We made it this far and for all I know they had the same amount of injuries as we did leading into the game,” he said.
“We were beaten by a hungrier, more experienced, bigger bodied, better team on the day.”
Carroll said while they would enjoy what they had done this season, the key for the group now is to make sure that this drives them into the future.
“The more I thought about it this week, we can’t change history now that we did make it after being 0-5, but we can’t be satisfied heading into next season,” he said.
“We need to come out and display what we did in the second half of this season. The passion, the drive, the want to win, want to run and want to compete, rather than wait and see what happens.
“We’re happy to be here, but nowhere near satisfied with the performance on the day. I’m very proud of the club that I have fallen in love with, can’t wait to see what we produce in the future.”
Carroll said they had already signed 90 per cent of the playing list for next season, while they had been thrilled they had made the club a destination club that people want to be a part of.
He said it’s the young kids that would drive them forward.
“The list fortunately for me goes on,” he said. “These young guys are willing to put their hands up to take jobs on.
“What do they get out of this season? Well they get 13-16 games of senior experience and now three finals games of experience, that has to go a long way.
“There’s a lot of people out there who play footy their whole life and don’t get to play in a grand final and we’ll take those little wins.
“It’s not the silverware that we want, it’s the experience and the want to perform on the big stage that they’ve taken upon themselves.”
