Jumping for joy – Roos and their fans celebrate!

Pollies on parade at the NTFA Grand Final. From left: Guy Barnett, Lyons MHA; Greg Hall, former Western Tiers MLC; Meander Valley Mayor Wayne Johnston, Premier Peter Gutwein and Mark Shelton, Lyons MHA. Photo courtesy Guy Barnett

On their home ground, the Roos flew high to trounce the Tigers. Photo by Andrew Shepherd

by David Claridge

THE DROUGHT broke whenDeloraine stormed home to defeat Rocherlea in the 2020 NTFA Grand Final.

With a strong lead after the first quarter, the Roos fought off a comeback, keeping the Tigers scoreless in the third quarter before coming home strong in the fourth, winning 11.9 (75) to 5.7 (37)

Coach Lochie Dornauf credits continuous player training since the end of last season with giving the Roos the edge when it mattered.

‘It’s an amazing feeling being able to give this back to the fans who have supported us all year. We couldn’t be more excited for the whole team.

‘Rocherlea have a very experienced team. They’ve got some real gun players that really came to play in the second quarter. We couldn’t stem the bleeding, but we went into half time in front.

‘Last time we played Rocherlea it was lost in the midfield, so it’s pleasing to see the turnaround and that the shoe was on the other foot.’

For Lochie Dornauf, the win ends his drought of 11 grand final losses.

The win caps off a spectacular career for Kangaroo Matthew O’Donoghue who was chaired off into retirement.

The U21 team couldn’t get the same result against a much stronger George Town, going down 5.8 (38) to 14.10 (94).