Grand Final Preview: Tigers v Pies in wheelchair footy finale
The Victorian Wheelchair Football League (VWFL) is gearing up for a super Sunday of Grand Final action, with Richmond and Collingwood fighting it out for the 2024 Premiership in both the VWFL and the Community Wheelchair Football League (CWFL) at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC).
The day will kick off with a curtain raiser game of NAB AFL Victoria Wheelchair Auskick, giving aspiring wheelchair footy players the chance to battle it out in front of their wheelchair footy heroes.
Collingwood's VWFL and CWFL team's secured their places in Sunday's Grand Finals after strong preliminary final wins last Sunday at the State Netball and Hockey Centre against St Kilda's VWFL and CWFL teams.
Richmond have been dominant all season, finishing top of the ladder in both competitions and progressing directly to the Grand Final after winning their qualifying finals in the first week of the finals series.
This will be the third time that Richmond and Collingwood have met in the VWFL Grand Final, with both teams winning one apiece as they met in back-to-back years in 2018/19. Richmond and Collingwood are both looking for their third Grand Final win (RICH in 2019 and 2022) (COLL in 2018 and 2021) and Richmond have now been in five of the past six Grand Finals, with this year their third consecutive GF appearance.
• 2018: Collinwood: 13.4 (82) def Richmond: 2.10 (22) - COLL by 60pts
• 2019: Richmond: 9.7 (61) def Collingwood: 7.5 (47) - RICH by 14pts
Richmond have now been in all three of the CWFL Grand Finals, defeating Essendon in 2022 and losing to St Kilda in 2023. This is Collingwood's first Grand Final appearance within the CWFL.
Full season fixtures and results are available on PlayHQ.
Keep reading below for a match report of last week's preliminary finals, and a preview of Sunday's VWFL and CWFL Grand Finals (compiled by Austen Krueger).
Grand Final Match Day Schedule
10:30am - Doors open
11:00am - NAB AFL Victoria Wheelchair Auskick - Curtain Raiser Game
12:15pm - CWFL Grand Final
1:30pm - VWFL Grand Final
Both games will be live streamed via the Victorian Wheelchair Football League Facebook page.
Reserve a spot at MSAC with a FREE ticket here.
Victorian Wheelchair Football League - Preliminary Final: Match Report
St Kilda Football Club: 12.7 (79) def by Collingwood Football Club: 14.6 (90)
Goals
St Kilda Football Club: S Welsh 8, R Smith 2, N Briant 2
Collingwood Football Club: B Jankovski 8 P McKay 4, A Perito 2
Match Summary
Collingwood led from start-to-finish in what turned out to be the closest margin of victory all year within the VWFL. Skipper, Ben Jankovski with four goals in the first quarter and four in the last setup a famous win for the Pies, who have lost the previous two preliminary finals in 2022/23. The Saints after a slow start, got themselves back into the contest thanks to young superstar Sebestian Welsh who put together an awe-inspiring performance, finishing with eight goals. St Kilda managed to get it back to a seven point margin with seven minutes remaining and it looked like they may get over the top, but Ben Jankovski of Collingwood scored four of the next five goals to ensure the Pies would advance into the 2024 Grand Final.
The Saints have been knocked out in straight sets but can still be proud of what they've achieved in 2024 - coming from last in 2023 to a Preliminary Final this year is a great turnaround.
Community Wheelchair Football League - Preliminary Final: Match Report
St Kilda Football Club: 3.1 (19) def by Collingwood Football Club: 9.6 (60)
Goals
St Kilda: N Wilburn 3, T Johnson 1
Collingwood: T Hawkins 6, A Paddle 2, B Axford 1
Match Summary
The Pies, who lost both home and away games to St Kilda throughout 2024, didn't make the same mistake again as they put together their strongest performance of the season, defeating the second place Saints by 41 points. Troy Hawkins got the Pies off to the perfect start with two of his six goals in the first quarter, one of them being on the quarter time siren. St Kilda tried changing players around to get themselves back into the contest, but it proved to be Collingwood’s day as the ball was landing fortuitously in their laps all day. A total team effort of the Pies as they shut the Saints down in all aspects and put together their strongest performance of the season to advance into the 2024 Grand Final. It meant the end of the line for St Kilda, who won the 2023 CWFL Grand Final, however it was a fantastic season for the Saints who will be looking bounce back in 2025.
Victorian Wheelchair Football League – Grand Final Preview
Richmond Football Club v Collingwood Football Club - 1:30pm at MSAC
Ladder Positioning
Richmond: 1st – (7W, 1L – 208%)
Collingwood: 3rd – (5W, 3L – 135%)
Previous Encounters
Rd4: Richmond: 16.4 (100) def Collingwood: 9.4 (58) – RICH by 42pts
Rd9: Richmond: 18.11 (119) def Collingwood: 10.1 (61) – RICH by 58pts
Key to victory
Richmond: If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it: The Tigers don’t need to make any drastic changes coming into their third consecutive Grand Final. They are an experienced side with every player having played in a Grand Final before. Led by Matt Morris, they are arguably the best coached side within the VWFL, and they have found a game plan and role for every player that has proven to be very difficult to stop. Richmond won their seven home and away games throughout the year by an average margin of 74pts and have only lost one game this year. There is a reason that they have had years of continued success, so why change anything now?
Collingwood: A four quarter performance. In the two games that Collingwood played Richmond in 2024, they were kept completely scoreless in two of the eight quarters, which proved to be the difference in the game as Richmond scored 60 unanswered points across both games. Going against such a quality side in Richmond, the Pies will have to be completely focused for every second of this game as the Tigers have proved throughout 2024 that they can put together goals in very quick succession to take away the game within a quarter.
Player to watch
Richmond: Tiesha Shadwell – Tiesha who won the best on ground medal in Richmond’s 2022 Grand Final win over Essendon, has established herself over many years as the premier centre player of the league. She is an absolute game winner, and it starts with her in the middle. Watch out for the centre ruck battles, she often crafts the ball down beautifully to James Weinert who streams past and serves their forwards on a silver platter. If Richmond are to win their second Grand Final in two years, I would have Tiesha Shadwell as a strong chance to win another best on ground medallion.
Collingwood: Ben Jankovski – The captain of this side has been in career best form within the 2024 finals series. Through both the elimination and preliminary final’s, Jankovski had scored the first five goals of both games combined. In the preliminary final, he had four goals inside the first quarter and backed it with four more in the last term. His form is huge reason into why Collingwood has been able to make it into the 2024 Grand Final and they will be looking at their leader once again to potentially finish off what has been a dream-run for the Collingwood Football Club.
Community Wheelchair Football League – Grand Final Preview
Richmond Football Club v Collingwood Football Club - 12:15pm at MSAC
Ladder Positioning
Richmond: 1st – (8W, 0L – 477%)
Collingwood: 3rd – (4W, 4L – 165%)
Previous Encounters
Rd4: Richmond: 9.11 (65) def Collingwood: 2.7 (19) – RICH by 46pts
Rd9: Richmond: 4.6 (30) def Collingwood: 1.6 (12) – RICH by 18pts
Key to victory
Richmond: Scoreboard pressure – Richmond’s two lowest scores in their undefeated 2024 season have both come against Collingwood and their closest winning margin of 18 points was also against the Pies. The Tigers, who for the most part have been able to score at will this year, have had some slight struggles with Collingwood. If the Tigers can put some early scoreboard pressure on the Pies that will go along way in securing another Grand Final victory in the CWFL.
Collingwood: Defence – Collingwood’s strongest part of their unit within the Community League is their defence. They have multiple players that they can put into the back half. Brad Axford & Tim O’Connor are both going to be pivotal players in trying to shut down Richmond’s scoring, to go along with Alex McKay and whoever else they decide to put down there. Luckily for the Pies, due to their deep list they will be able to move the magnets around if certain players aren’t working and their ability to chop and change different defenders might just be the catalyst into victory.
Player to watch
Richmond: Gabe Sharp – Gabe has had a stellar second half of the season within the Community League and has proven to be a dangerous forward. Her forward companion in Bryant Parsons who finished first in the league for goals, will be garnering a lot of attention from the Collingwood defenders. This could open up space in the forward line for Gabe who has proven throughout the year that she can and will pounce on opportunities in front of goals.
Collingwood: Matthew Blunt – Collingwood’s #1 centre position player has been fantastic throughout the finals series and has been a big reason to their success. He will have a tough day matching up against Mark Titford, Miranda Charlton and potentially Daniel Yore but Blunt has plenty of experience in big games for the Pies and RSL Active in the National Championships. It’s not just the middle part of the ground he excels at, Blunt drops down defensively and with his long reach has been the perfect almost goalkeeper role in defence and assists beautifully within the forward line.
