Western Gippsland reigns supreme
The AFL Gippsland Intersport AllStars under 13s, 14s and 15s grand finals were all played last month, with Western Gippsland coming out victorious in all three .
The 13s and 14s Western squad are the representative teams made up of the best 25 players in each age group from the West Gippsland Junior Football Competition and the Warragul and District Junior Football League. The 15s comprises of players from the Ellinbank and District Football League, the Gippsland League and the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition.
The program, played across the 2022 season, is made up of six teams Western, Southern, Eastern, Central, Sale and Traralgon.
Under 13s
In the 13s, the Western Gippsland team was the overwhelming favourite after a dominant season with just one loss (by a point) in their previous six matches.
Western Gippsland came away 25 point winners and were crowned premiers for 2022 after a terrific season. Western Gippsland: 8.5 53 Traralgon District: 4.4 28 Best players: Phacharaphon Wangkaew, Oscar Henwood,
Fraser Aubrey, Tait Cornwall, Lenny White & Makai Maroney
Goal kickers: Fraser Aubrey 3, Oscar Henwood, Phachararphon Wangkaew 2, Harley Monckton 1
Best on ground: Phacharaphon Wangkaew (Western Gippsland)
Under 14s
The 14s went into the grand final as the biggest of underdogs of the day having previously lost convincingly to Southern Gippsland the last two occasions.
A few personnel changes to the 2023 team meant it would take a fair part of the season to get the group playing their best team football. Heath Logan and his coaching team had the 14s for Western Gippsland peaking at the right time of year with wins against Traralgon and Southern Gippsland in the preliminary final and grand final.
Western had not previously beaten Traralgon in 2021 or 2022 and suffered a convincing loss in the 2021 grand final against Southern Gippsland. The change in grand final results in 2022 was remarkable, as was the best on field performance by Cody Templeton who ensured Western would not let this one slip. Western Gippsland: 5.12 42 Southern Gippsland: 6.3 39
Best players: Cody Templeton, Angus Watts, Blake Bibby, Tyler Harkin & Joseph Zaccari.
Goal kickers: Cody Templeton 2, Ash Mounsey, Kai Kelsey, Rylan Butler.
Best on ground: Cody Templeton (Western Gippsland)
Under 15s
As for the 15s, it was a match that could go either way as the two teams competing, Western and Southern, had been the dominant teams of the last two years.
While the class and talent for both teams ensured it was a high quality match, the better accuracy in front of goal by the Western Gippsland team was enough to get them over line.
Fatigue was a factor for many of the Western Gippsland players, however, it had no impact on Brodie Atkins and Oliver Wilson who both put in match winning efforts for Western Gippsland. Western Gippsland: 8.9 57 Southern Gippsland: 7.10 52 Best players: Brodie Atkins, Oliver Wilson, Tom Logan, Kai Mounsey, Joshua Bradley and Xavier Olsson
Goal kickers: Kai Mounsey 3, Brodie Atkins 2, Thomas Vickery 2, Jobe Armstrong 1.
Best on ground: Brodie Atkins (Western Gippsland)