A season filled with twists and turns culminated in a thrilling Riverland Football League A grade grand final on Saturday afternoon in front of a massive crowd at Panther Park.

Renmark made it a 19th A grade premiership, and its fourth in five seasons with a 17-point win over Barmera-Monash.

Those at the ground were treated to a rather cagey affair for the opening nine minutes of the match, with many turning their minds back to last year’s low-scoring decider between the two sides.

However, the deadlock was broken when superstar Renmark recruit Nick Gillard opened the scoring with a snap on goal in front of the Rovers pack and the game was well and truly underway from there.

In a high-pressure contest, both gave maximum effort with the result in the balance across the entirety of the day.

Late goals from Renmark midfielder Tim Woolford did the damage and as the second one sailed through with under a minute remaining, the Rovers supporters were in raptures as the final siren rung around Loxton North.

Four-time Renmark playing coach Josh Vater said while the premiership was still sinking in, he was proud of the way his side played across the day.

“It’s an incredible feeling, and it’s still sinking in for me, but I say to our club all the time that I am very much conscious of the fact that I am a small cog in the machine that is our sporting club,” he said.

“I just play my role and my message to the playing group is for everyone to just play their role, and if everyone does that we’ll be okay and do what we can control.”

Renmark begun season 2024 with a 35-point win over the Roos at the Lakeside, and while dips in form occurred throughout the year, the Rovers remained top two across the whole season.

The Rovers were defeated by nine points in last year’s grand final at Waikerie, and that was something Vater said motivated the group across the pre-season.

“The disappointment of last year really drove the hunger to make us really conscious of what wins you grand finals, and we had ourselves to blame last year,” he said.

“But we changed some game style things right from the beginning of the pre-season and we made some changes midseason as well, so I think that provided a spark to keep players engaged and really interested.”

With just one point separating the two sides at the quarter time break, Renmark broke the game open in the second quarter with three goals unanswered, taking a 19-point half time advantage.

Vater himself booted two, while Gillard’s second of the day had the Roos under significant pressure.

“One of the more powerful assets you can have as a playing coach is the fact that you can do your very best to live and breathe what you’re asking the players, and showing them what and how you want something done,” he said.

“Right throughout my coaching journey that asset is something I’ve been very conscious of being able to say, this is what we’re doing and I’ll go and show you what I mean by that, and hopefully drag some others along.

“We’ve got a heap of players who stand up and are real leaders at the footy club and all of them stood up particularly over the last six weeks.

“There’s been a real lift in our leaders and our whole group has followed them.”

While the Rovers had the momentum into the half time break, Barmera-Monash quickly responded in the third term with a big goal to Mason Middleton.

However, Renmark ruckman Zach Gartery flipped the game back in his side’s favour with a stunning attempt from the boundary line, helping see the Rovers to a 16-point lead at the final break.

Vater said he felt the goal from his star ruckman was a major turning point of the match.

“That was from a slow build up and it was into the breeze… and then for him to have the composure to go back and slot that at a really crucial time was massive,” he said.

“When there are only seven goals kicked by us on the day, every one becomes really vital, particularly considering both teams had kicked a lot of points too.

“That’s been a bit of a story for us across the last two years in the games we’ve lost against Barmera-Monash.

“We’ve felt we’ve had our chances but we’ve kicked too many points, so for Zach to kick that was crucial.”

Barmera-Monash’s goals came through star forward Jono Beech, who booted two while spending time in the middle of the ground, alongside Middleton’s second quarter finish.

Playing coach Fraser Sampson made good decisions with ball in hand for the Roos, while young gun Ayden Hodgson drove Barmera-Monash out of stoppage throughout the match.

Beech turned the momentum of the game in the final quarter with an early snap, and just two minutes later Dan Westley kicked truly for Barmera-Monash to cut the margin to five points.

Woolford starred for Renmark across the day, finding the ball with ease prior to his two final quarter goals, while Ricky Garrett and Bailey White had major moments of composure, and Nick Gillard created a spark inside attacking 50.

Woolford took home The Murray Pioneer Best on Ground medal, and Vater said he was confident when the star midfielder lined up for the late goals.

“I was right next to him with the first one, because the wind had dropped by that stage and it was pretty calm and he’s a composed set shot so I was really confident with the first one,” he said.

“He then went straight into the centre bounce, earnt the free kick and that was pretty fortunate, and made us feel a little bit safer.

“We knew there wasn’t much time left at all and then he kicked that one which made it even safer so there were no nerves from me.”

While Vater understands exactly how Barmera-Monash is feeling, he said his opposition should be “proud” of the way it performed across season 2024.

“Losing is a part of sport, and in a sense it’s what drives a lot of the desire for people to play sport,” he said.

“Even the anxiety of watching and barracking for a team or playing is the fact you don’t know who’s going to win, and unfortunately not everyone can win.

“I’m glad it was us that got to win this time, but we were in their shoes last year and it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

“It doesn’t make much of a difference to them, but you do mean it in saying that you have to always be proud of the year you’ve had.

“To go through and only lose a couple of games for the year and be in a strong position, they should be really proud of themselves.

“We’ve looked forward to building towards playing them all year, and we sort of knew after the year they had last year, and the people they had recruited that they were going to be the ones we’d have to prepare for all year.”

After winning the premierships in 2019, 2021, and 2022, Renmark will once again enter the next season as reigning premiers, and be the hunted side for all other five RFL clubs to strive towards.

Full time

• Renmark 7.10 (52) d Barmera-Monash 4.11 (35)
• Best: Renmark – T. Woolford, R. Garrett, D. Woolford, N. Gillard, J. Rowe, T. Blight. Barmera-Monash – details not provided.
• Goals: Renmark – N. Gillard, J. Vater, T. Woolford 2, Z. Gartery. Barmera-Monash – J. Beech 2, D. Westley, M. Middleton.

See all the pictures in the issue.
This article appeared in the Murray Pioneer, 11 September 2024.