The Nomads’ Gilded Age of consecutive premierships came to an end on September 9 in Gunnedah. However, midway thorough the last quarter, as the Nomads surged to the lead it look like Flag #6 was on its way, but injuries to key players in the Nomads’ camp and determination on the part of the Dogs meant that it was not to be. Clarrie Barker kicked 3 while Nick Locke and Ethan Karpany kicked 3 apiece. Best for the Nomads were Clarrie Barker, Paddy Tobias, Luke Raymond, Tim Keys and Nick Locke all of whom played brilliantly and nearly pulled off an upset. Final scores were Gunnedah 15.16.106 to Nomads 13.8.86.

Warm weather greeted the Nomads as they arrived en masse in the finely appointed bus from downtown cosmopolitan Uralla. There was a large crowd in attendance with a Juniors’ and a Women’s Grand Final on before the Senior Men: indeed there was a genuine carnival atmosphere about Wolseley Oval.

From the first bounce the Dogs were more switched on than the Nomads and hit the ball hard. Early on in the first quarter the Nomads were struck a disastrous and telling blow with David ‘Modra’ Richards hamstring going. It was always going to be touch and go whether he would get through the game. So after kicking 37 goals in the last 5 grand finals, Modra was to play no part in this 6th grand final. In this quarter if the Dogs had kicked straight, then the game would have almost been over. Thankfully they missed some set shots that they should have got and the Nomads forwards kicked truly. Phill Mitchell, Steve Wilson and Tom Hunt stood up to a lot of pressure in the backline during this perios.At the end of the first quarter scores were Gunnedah 6.4.40 to the Nomads 4.0.24.

The Nomads picked up their game in the second quarter kicking in an easterly direction and started to play some power football. Clarrie Barker was unstoppable at centre half forward while in the middle Paddy Tobias, Luke Rambo’ Raymond, Jesse Petrascu and Jezza Ratcliffe were doing the hard work to send the ball forward. Nick Locke was alos impressive up forward with his strong marking and straight kicking. He was not the only one kicking straight; Harry Wakefield kicked a perler from 50 out on the boundary, despite being harangued by the nearby crowd. James Treweeke was patrolling the backline, playing a kick behind play, and making scoring very difficult for the Dogs. The performance was much better but the Nomads incurred another serious injury with Modra’s younger brother, Cameron Graham, suffering a back injury. At half time the Dog led 9.8.62 to 84.52.

The third quarter saw the Nomads play some excellent football, so much so that by the end of the quarte they were only one point behind. However, once again the team were cruelled by an injury with Big James Treweeke suffering an hamstring injury and he, like Modra and Cammy, would play no further part in the game. At the final change the scores were 11.12.78 to 12.5.77.

The Nomads continued to play quality football and Paddy Tobias and Rambo were unbelievably tenacious in the packs while Clarrie Barker and Nick Locke made a great team together up forward, schnaffling anything and everything that came their way. Tim Keys was manic in the ruck all day and his faith and aggression spurre the troops on all day.

The Nomads were ahead of the Dogs at the ten-minute mark. However, in a tight game like this the Midfielders needed some rest, but with three serious injuries, that rest was not forthcoming and the Dogs, in the end, ran away with it. All credit to them – they had been the stronger team for much of the year.

We would like to finish by thanking the coaches (Tom Hunt – Senior coach – and Assistant Coaches Phill Mitchell and Paddy Tobias) for the brilliant job they did in rebuilding the side this year. Tom was an inspirational leader both on and off the field. And Paddy and Phill did the hard yards on Tuesday nights down in the ice-zone that is Consett Davis.

We would also like to thank Brendan Meehan and Michelle Bray for their work on Thursday nights and on Saturdays. Both of you put in enormous amounts of work and never whinge and never ask for anything in return. Also thanks to Brendan and Cheryl Nolan for their continued unwavering support for the team – you are the people for whom the word ‘diehard’ was invented. Also to the goal umpires Gus Barker, David Bioletti and Amy Pittman and to the boundary umpires, Xavier Walsh, Ryan Swann and Dylan Moore. Brilliant work – we could not go ahead each week without you.

While we are discussing the year it is worth noting we had three teams – a Juniors’ team, a Senior Women’s team and the Senior Men’s. Thanks to Neil Dunn, Melissa Moore, Jamie Moore and Greg Buckland for all their work with the Juniors. It could not have happened with you. With respect to the Senior Women’s team thanks to Amy Pittman (captain extraordinaire), Liam Cudmore, Jesse Petrascu, and James Treweeke for all their work.

And so ends anther chapter in the Great Saga that is Nomads football. Thanks to everyone involved and we look forward to seeing you all (or at least as many as is possible) again next year. Same Nomads time. Same Nomads channel.

Grand Final Result

This entry was posted on Monday, November 6th, 2017 at 7:02 am and is filed under Match report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.