Hawks outlast Bombers, Cats cruise into VFL Grand Final

The red hot flag favourites brushed aside another challenger to move within one victory of a first premiership in 14 years, and they will run into an arch-rival after Essendon’s late charge fell agonisingly short as our VFL Grand Final combatants were set at the weekend.

Meanwhile, we have a pair of new J.J.Liston medallists after two League guns were ruled ineligible due to suspensions.

Here’s what happened in the VFL preliminary finals and on the League’s night of nights.

HAWKS OUTLAST GALLANT BOMBERS TO REACH DECIDER

The Box Hill Hawks were the team that ended Footscray’s 12-win charge into the 2024 finals, and they did the same to a rampaging Essendon in 2026, holding on for an epic seven-point win on Saturday to be the first team into the Grand Final.

Played in front of a sellout Bomber-heavy crowd at Box Hill City Oval and despite losing Will Setterfield pre-game, Essendon hit takeoff from the opening siren as Jade Gresham kicked the first two goals and Nik Cox added another to have the favourites teetering at 17 points down within nine minutes.

But the Hawks have been made of stern stuff for a generation and were always going to respond.

And respond they did, kicking the next three to hit the front before Essendon grabbed a four-point lead at the break with Gresham’s third.

It continued as a classic contest for the rest of the day – two goals to the Hawks, two to the Bombers, one each for 14 lead changes in all before Box Hill grabbed consecutive goals to big men Aidan Schubert, Brodie McLaughlin and Calsher Dear for a game-high 15-point lead in the shadows of three quarter-time.

Still Essendon wasn’t done … Cox’s second made it nine points at the last change and after the Hawks peppered for the knockout blow with four consecutive behinds, Zak Johnson’s first goal of the season made it a goal the difference.

Matt Hill restored the breathing space, Cox took it away again and it was a nailbiting few minutes for both sets of fans before the siren came as music to Hawk ears and ended Essendon’s push for a maiden VFA/VFL Grand Final appearance.

Despite the free-flowing nature of the game, it was the big men who made their presence felt, with Noah Mraz (24 disposals, 12 marks, 11 intercepts), Jack Scrimshaw (23, seven marks, seven intercepts, one goal in his first game since round eight) and Bodie Ryan (22, nine marks) starring in defence as James Blanck held the fort.

At the other end, Dear (three), Schubert (three) and McLaughlin (two) took 19 marks and kicked eight goals between them, even though Tyler Sellers (27, 12 marks, 14 intercepts, eight rebounds) and Deacon Kalpakis (21, 12 marks, eight intercepts) ensured the damage wasn’t greater.

For Essendon, Gresham was electric early but didn’t add to his three-goal first term, with Cox (three) and Liam McMahon (two) helping him match the Hawk trio’s eight majors.

Henry Hustwaite (26, 11 contested, 10 tackles), Cam Nairn (23, 13 marks), Trent Bianco (22, nine marks) and Finn Maginness (22, seven marks) fired in the middle for Box Hill, while Elijah Tsatas (30, 13 contested, nine inside-50s), Xavier O’Neill (20, six entries, one goal) and Jackson Hately (21) impressed for Essendon.

CATS CRUISE THROUGH TO GRAND FINAL

Geelong has been on top of the ladder for all but one week of the season (second after Round 4) and the Cats franked that form with an easy 47-point preliminary final win over a gallant but outclassed Port Melbourne at GMHBA Stadium on Sunday.

The Borough stuck with the Cats through a tight first quarter and kept throwing punches throughout the game, but a three-goal burst in as many minutes to start the second quarter ensured the favourites were never going to lose.

Port did respond with three of the next four to get back within seven points, but Geelong went bang-bang again to open a 17-point gap at half-time, added two more to start the third and cruised home by only conceding one major for the second half.

The Borough, whose hopes were basically extinguished when in-form but luckless goalkicker Kaine Baldwin went down with a suspected serious knee injury, never allowed Geelong to fully dominate but also never looked like winning.

Powerful midfielder George Stevens continued a brilliant season that saw him win the Liston Medal on Monday night with another best-afield showing, racking up another 30 disposals (13 contested) at 83 per cent efficiency while also winning nine clearances, laying 12 tackles and kicking a goal, while his offsiders Mitch Knevitt (25, 11 contested, nine tackles, seven inside-50s) and Jack Bowes (27, eight tackles, one goal) also had too much power.

Joe Pike stepped up after the early exit of Rhys Stanley to injury to dominate the ruck with 20 disposals (13 contested) and 33 hitouts, while Jamieson Ballantyne (four goals) and Jay Rantall (19, two goals) finished the job in attack and Jhye Clark (24, seven intercepts, five rebounds) and Jed Bews were strong down back.

Captain Tom Hird led from the front for the Borough with 27 touches, 11 marks and five rebounds working back to help in-form defensive brigade of Matt Gahan (26, five rebounds), James Van Es (16, nine marks, nine intercepts, seven rebounds) and Michael Rudd (16, six marks, seven tackles), while Ben Hobbs (24, 17 contested) was again terrific the day before topping the Liston count as an ineligible player.

MRP NEWS

Box Hill’s Sam Butler is headed to the VFL tribunal tonight to contest a one-match suspension for a high bump on Essendon’s Harrison Jones during the second quarter of the preliminary final in a bid to be available for Sunday’s Grand Final.

The bump was graded as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.

If he fails to beat the charge, he will be suspended for two games and not only miss the clash with Geelong, but also lose any hope of an AFL recall should Hawthorn make that Grand Final – which may be academic anyway given he failed to finish the game with what was reported to be a hamstring issue.

His teammate Calsher Dear accepted a reprimand (down from a $300 fine) for misconduct against Deacon Kalpakis, also during the second quarter, which was graded as a "low-level offence".

@JontyTheCaller