Heartbreaking end as Great Southern Storm narrowly miss out on reaching colts grand final at country champs

The Great Southern Storm were unable to reach the grand final of the colts division at the Nutrien Ag Solutions Country Football Championships despite three wins from their four qualifying games at Lane Group Stadium in Mandurah this week. Peel claimed the CBH Group colts title after an emphatic 39-point grand final win over Great Northern, the latter edging the Storm out for a place in Friday afternoon’s decider. In a thrilling final day of action, four teams were locked in a battle for the two grand final spots but Peel went through undefeated to seal their place. The Storm, Great Northern and Regional Districts were left to fight it out for the remaining grand final berth and the Storm had their opportunities in their fourth and final qualifying game against Northern Suns but ultimately it was not enough. A 38-point win over Pilbara to start the second day boosted the Storm’s percentage and kept their title hopes alive and they faced the Suns chasing a big win to further boost their hopes of meeting Peel in the decider. Kicking with the aid of the wind, the Storm were right on top in the first half but were again wasteful in front of goal and led by 17 points at half time. The Suns kicked two goals in the second half while the Storm managed only one behind. The Storm had to withstand plenty of late pressure as defenders Kobi Keen and Sebastian Ballard time and time again took intercept marks, helping the Storm cling on for a two-point triumph. Goals in the opening half from Isaac Williams and Colby Law were enough to get the Storm over the line 2.7 (19) to 2.5 (17). The Storm moved to 12 points but their percentage fell to 160.49 as a result of the small margin. That left them waiting on the result of the following match between Regional Districts and Great Northern, a small Regional Districts victory would have left the Storm in second place and into a grand final. Regional Districts started strongly but an impressive Great Northern outfit kicked the only four goals of the second half to surge to a 17-point win and grab the other grand final berth. Great Northern finished with 12 points like the Storm but had a far superior percentage of 240.32. Earlier on Friday the Storm began brilliantly with a six-goal first half against Pilbara but were left to rue their second half, conceding three goals while kicking only two of their own. Clay Michael kicked two majors while half-forward Ryan Lazar was lively throughout the contest and Josh Davenport was outstanding in the midfield. Mohit Jaggi had a busy first half, Colby Law had some vital moments and Keen was resolute in the back half as the Storm prevailed 8.8 (56) to 3.0 (18). Peel, who entered as reigning champions from 2019, were too strong in the grand final as they kicked four goals in each half on their way to an 8.2 (50) to 1.5 (11) victory. Star midfielder Mitch Zaddow was superb in the decider, winning the Kim ‘Freddy’ Curnow Medal as best on ground while Taj Mason and Tarkyn Etherington booted two goals each. Great Northern’s Jack Cocking won the Ken Baxter trophy as the fairest and best player across the championships and Regional Districts’ Judd Kelman was awarded the Clem Bray trophy as the rising star of the carnival. The Storm were rewarded for winning three of their four games by having five players named in the CBH Group Colts Allstars. Lazar, Ryley Valli, Michael, Ballard and Keen were named Allstars to cap stellar individual championships.