Shepparton went in as the underdog against Echuca in the Goulburn Valley League grand final, but even sceptics wouldn’t have expected the final result to be so telling.
A 22.22 (154) to 9.4 (58) loss proved a bitter pill for the Bears to swallow as the Murray Bombers got off to a fast start and never really took the foot off the pedal.
And as expected, the in-depth stats marry up with the only one that really matters — the final score.
Echuca led the disposal count 372-291 and was fiercer at the coalface too, securing more contested possessions (160-114), hard-ball gets (29-18) and intercept possessions (87-61).
The Murray Bombers also rained hell on the Bears’ defensive arc, peppering a ludicrous 72 inside-50s (19 marked) to Shepparton’s 30.
Turnovers are where things got ugly for the Bears.
Shepparton coughed the ball up 89 times in comparison to Echuca’s 66, with 13 of the Bears’ handovers coming in their defensive zone.
When factoring in that Echuca scored 72 per cent of its total score from turnovers — that being a whopping 111 points — it paints a picture of just how lethal the Murray Bombers were after receiving the ball off the Bears.
Shepparton’s pressure game was a silver lining, however.
The Bears went +27 in pressure acts and +17 in tackles to sit +56 in the overall pressure ratings, with one man at the heart of the action for Shepparton.
Adam De Cicco laid a ridiculous 12 tackles during the grand final, doubling the effort of the next best in the category in Echuca’s Cooper Barber.
The brilliant Bears on-baller also tallied 21 disposals at 71 per cent efficiency, 13 contested possessions, four inside-50s, seven clearances and a goal in a valiant display that landed him 112 ranking points.
Adam De Cicco vs Echuca
Disposals: 21
Contested possessions: 13
Clearances: 7
Tackles: 12
Goal involvements: 4
Ranking points: 112
Echuca’s Kane Morris took the cake when it came to game performers, though.
‘The Mog’ racked up 20 disposals, 14 contested possessions, 22 hit-outs and three goals in a roving, rampaging performance that bore 156 ranking points.
His eight goal involvements was matched by Hugh Byrne and bettered by Jack McHale (nine), while six Murray Bombers had 10 or more score involvements in a dominant day for the green-and-white.
Other Shepparton notables were Joel Brett with 15 touches and two goals, Mitch Brett with 19 disposals at 87 per cent efficiency and Ash Holland with 38 hit-outs.
