The Bullants won 16.13 (109) to 13.10 (88) after putting together a stunning second term where they kicked seven goals to the Borough's one. North Ballarat won through on Saturday after beating Collingwood by 61 points in the other prelim.
Coach David Teague talks about how his Carlton-listed players performed, and of the selection dilemma he faces for this Friday's decider.
We went pretty hard at Port Melbourne early because we thought that was our best chance. In the second quarter, we didn't rotate as much because we thought the players out there were playing well.
We knew we were going to run out of legs a little bit because of the style we played earlier, but we knew we had structures in place and that it was going to be hard for them to score six goals in the last quarter.
Chris Yarran played his best game for us. He's just gotten better and better, particularly in the second half of the year, and he got a game against Adelaide in the seniors and played quite well there too.
It was pleasing to see him continue that form on the weekend, because he'd played so well against Williamstown the fortnight beforehand.
The whole team lifted in that second quarter, but he finished it off when he got it into the forward line. He hit the scoreboard, and that's what you need when you've got a bit of a run-on – someone to kick the goals, and along with Jeff Garlett, he put plenty of pressure on.
Cameron Cloke and Brad Fisher also took some good marks down there, so we looked like a very dangerous forward line. We've got a good mix with a lot of different sorts of players, including Jason Saddington, who can play tall but can also put on pressure with his size.
I was very happy with the way our forwards worked together and their ability to hit the scoreboard. We didn't get the ball into our forward 50 a massive amount, but when we did, we kicked goals, which is what you need to do.
Jordan Bannister played really well. We put him into the middle, and their strength was their contested work and he matched it to finish with 10 clearances, which is an outstanding effort on a little oval like that.
Adam Bentick played an important team role and shut down the prime mover for the opposition, and Steven Browne did some good things but his man got a few goals so he'll need to tighten up in the grand final.
Joe Anderson was the one down back that I was really happy with. His ability to defend first and then give us some great run out of the back half meant he was one of our better players.
The captain Adam Iacobucci was concussed and carried off in the third quarter, which was a shame because he was our best player until he got injured.
He had a bit of a sore neck on Monday but he'll be fine to play on Friday. He trained on Tuesday night and his movement is coming back, and it would take a fair bit for him not to play.
Selection-wise, I've got one tough choice to make with Adam Hartlett coming back from injury. He's had a sore hamstring, but is a chance to play, so we'll have to wait and see how he goes at training on Thursday night.
There were no passengers on the weekend, everyone played their part, so there's going to be an unlucky player, if it's Hartlett or someone else.
Robbie Warnock and Shaun Grigg also qualified to play finals for us, but they had end-of-season operations so they've been unavailable for selection. Everyone else has been available, although Greg Bentley and Lachie Hill have been the unlucky omissions so far.
As for North Ballarat, they've been the best team this year so it will be a tough game against them. They've got a great coach in Gerard Fitzgerald, so we're going to have our work cut out.
The way we're playing at the moment, I think we're a good chance, and we've had a great record against this team, which should give us some confidence.
Northern Bullants 4.4 11.10 14.10 16.13 (109)
Port Melbourne 3.1 4.4 8.9 13.10 (88)
GOALS
Northern Bullants: C. Yarran 5, C. Cloke 4, B. Fisher 3, J. Garlett 2, D. Boundy, B. Bransgrove
Port Melbourne: C. McGrath 5, S. Dwyer 3, R. McMahon 2, D. Robbins, F. Deluca, C. Cain
BEST
Northern Bullants: C. Yarran, S. Browne, J. Bannister, B. Fisher, A. Bentick, J. Spiteri
Port Melbourne: C. McGrath, B. Neville, S. Pleming, S. Dwyer, P. Raymond, T. Pinwill
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
