Nuriootpa finished off their late season revival with a solid 29-point win over a determined Kapunda outfit.
The Tigers were boosted by the return of Sean Hobbs (four goals) from a knee injury, giving them a second option to take the pressure off Craig Gogoll who kicked five.
Kapunda received a boost of their own with the return of their inspirational veteran Nathan Brady from the year’s most bizarre injury. He had a barb shot into his foot by a sting ray that he stepped on, while Toby Johnson showed the meaning of true dedication by flying back early from Queensland.
After a tight first quarter Nuri were able to pull away, kicking eight goals to Kapunda’s one in the second and third periods.
Kapunda utility Adam Turrell admitted his team made too many mistakes.
“We fought hard but we had too many moments where we lapsed,” Turrell said.
“Their midfield got on top in those two quarters but I was really proud of the way the boys showed a lot of heart and spirit and played the game right out with a strong last quarter, outscoring them five goals to two.
“After coming back midseason, I’ve noticed a few things I probably took for granted before. There’s a real passion here, in terms of the respect everyone around the club has for Browny (coach Rodney Brown) and the belief that there’s a good foundation going forward.”
For the Bombers, Brad Valentine battled hard on Gogoll in the first half before being moved into the middle which saw Brady given the task of minding the Tigers’ main forward.
Billy Nichols continued his outstanding year for the Tigers. He has been in the best players 14 times in 16 games and must be considered a chance to win the Schluter medal.
“Billy’s awesome for a small man, taking grabs the way he does,” Nat Salter, Nuri on-baller said. “It was a good way to finish off the year. We’ve got some positives to take into next year and young guys like Shaun Heusler will be better with a full year of senior footy.”
Shaun Ribbons was excellent at full back on Wes Farley keeping him to just one goal after he kicked 11 on us last time (however Farley has been playing injured for much of the second half of the season)”. Said Nuri on baller and reserves coach Nat Salter. Kapunda captain Brad Taylor led the Bombers with three goals in the game before being named the club’s best and fairest for 2010 on Saturday night ahead of Mark Cussadia, the award is Taylor’s fourth, equalling Richard Anderson with the most for the Black and Red club. “It’s some pretty special company he’s in, he’s been fantastic for the club and we hope he’s got more in him yet. We’ve not had the best year in terms of wins but we’ve worked hard to build for the future, we had 39 players play A grade this year and 14 of those were either first or second year players. We do need to recruit a couple of guys to help build our structure around and retain what we have currently but I think the basis of our team is there for next year”. Said Kapunda coach Rodney Brown.
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