… and so concludes another fantastic VFL season!

Of course, a VFL season can’t end without a dramatic, thrilling conclusion, especially if it wanted to continue the standard set in the first two seasons. And 2017 did not disappoint.

South Melbourne Fistball Club went into Fistivus XXIX having not led the league at any point during the 2017 season, but performing consistently enough each tournament to sit in second place, 6 points behind their arch-rivals Fist Club. Mathematically they were within reach of their second Roger Willen Shield, but they would need a few things to fall their way on the final day.

The first domino fell when captain Bryce “Pope” Griesheimer was ruled unavailable for the ultimate Fistivus, leaving 2016 Rookie of the Year Rod “Inanimate Carbon” Matthews to take on the captaincy and hopefully guide the Fist Clubbers to back-to-back shields.

The day started well for Fist Club, with Rod moving from defence into the primary attacker role, showing his versatility to lead them to a first-up victory against an ailing Bay City Fisters outfit. Despite another powerhouse performance from Carl “Carlossus” Creasey in attack, the Fisters were fielding a very inexperienced lineup due to multiple unavailabilities (new rule: Fistivus should be added to New Years Eve and AFL Grand Final Day as off-limits for wedding dates!), and showed their rawness against the more experienced Fist Club.

South Melbourne also started strong, dismantling an initially disorganised Mutt Fisters unit in straight sets. With three matches left for both Fist Club & South Melbourne, Fist Club only needed to win one more match to lock in the Shield, leaning on their impressive points differential throughout the year to claim the tiebreaker if they were to tie at the finish line. Next up for Fist Club were 2017 whipping boys Fistroy Lions, a once powerhouse club that had struggled in recent times, recording just 2 victories from 22 matches up to that point in the season.

Despite the Lions sporting 2 newbies in the defensive positions, they started off strong, pushing the Fist Clubbers point-for-point until finally falling away to lose the first set 11-9. Once the second set began, the Lions suddenly found their groove, pushing the Fist Clubbers into agonising long rallies before finally recording their first set win in 3 tournaments, winning 11-8. If the second set offered up long rallies, it had nothing on the third set, with both teams throwing everything they had during every point, both teams having multiple match points before the Lions were able to scrape out a thrilling 15-14 victory in the final set to record their first win since Fistivus XXVI.

Next up for South Melbourne was the Bay City Fisters, a must win game for the Green Demons. Overcome by Fist Club in their first game, the Fisters found a new gear, pushing South Melbourne to the brink, and looking at several moments like they might even run over the more-fancied Dimmies outfit. However it was not to be, with South Melbourne pulling themselves together in the final stanza, scraping out the final 2 sets of the game to claim a tough 9-11, 11-8, 11-9 victory and keep themselves in the RWS race.

The game that could define the shield straight up was next, with South Melbourne taking on Fist Club head-to-head. If Fist Club could overcome the Green Demons in battle, they would seal the title. Despite showing flashes of fine form, the Fist Clubbers ultimately couldn’t match the well-drilled South Melbourne boys, going down in straight sets 12-10, 11-7.

At this point South Melbourne were 3-0 and Fist Club 1-2, and with South Melbourne needing 3 more victories than Fist Club to outright claim the shield – it would all come down to the final round. Fist Club would face the now-focused Mutt Fisters, while South Melbourne would match up against a revitalised Fistroy Lions squad. If Fist Club could claim a famous victory, they would be champions. If South Melbourne fell at the last hurdle against the Lions, they would lose their shot at the shield. Thrilling stuff.

It did not start well for Fist Club. The Mutt Fisters had found form, having run over Fistroy and Bay City after their initial loss against the Dimmies, and immediately put Fist Club under pressure with their big volleyball-fuelled serves. After briefly allowing Fist Club to tie it up at 7 all, the Mutts took over, taking next 4 points to claim the first set 11-7. As all champions do, the reigning 2016 Roger Willen Shield winners responded in the second set, matching the powerful smashes of the Mutts with defensive resilience, keeping the points alive long enough to wear them down and take the second set 15-13.

The arm wrestle would continue in the third and deciding set, both teams trading points to again tie it up 7-7, before Fist Club briefly gained the upper hand; claiming the next 2 points to push the advantage to 9-7, just a measly 2 points away from victory. But the Mutts were having none of it. Unable to capitalise on their break, and clearly missing the clinical dagger-like serving accuracy of the absent Griesheimer, Fist Club were unable to stop the Mutts rattling off the next 3 points to receive their first match point. After fighting off 2 more brave challenges from the Fist Club crew, they finally took the set 13-11 and putting the fate of the shield in the hands of South Melbourne.

However, the Green Demons were mostly unaware of this sudden shift in the balance of power, as they had already begun their battle against the fired up Fistroy Lions. That said, a few queries were made from the South Melbourne backline to the Fist Clubbers as they wandered back to the safety of the bar, but they sensibly stayed tight-lipped on the result, leaving a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the heads of the Dimmies.

Immediately it was clear that this would not be an easy run-of-the-mill victory for South Melbourne, with the Lions showing a new level of tenacity and cleanliness that had not been seen very often earlier in the season. The two teams traded blows, engaging in agonisingly long rallies as each tried to get an upper hand. Eventually the team chemistry of the Green Demons was too much for the Lions, forcing the makeshift Fistroy outfit into errors, both forced and unforced, and taking the first set 11-7. The dose continued into the second and final set, once again overwhelming the tiring Lions to claim the deciding set 11-8.

And just like that, the South Melbourne Green Demons became two-time VFL champions, albeit by one of the slimmest of possible margins – glorious victory by 1 solitary win (or 4 championship points). And appropriately, it was their arch-rivals Fist Club taking the role of bridesmaid, just 12 months removed from their own revengeful VFL Championship over South Melbourne in 2016. In fact, since the implementation of the championship point system in 2015, the 3 Roger Willen Shield victories so far have been decided by 4 points in 2017 (South Melbourne over Fist Club), 3 points in 2016 (Fist Club over South Melbourne) and 0 points (i.e. point differential %) in 2015 (South Melbourne – then called The Fist & the Furious – over Fist Club).

It’s certainly fair to say that the South Melbourne Green Demons and Fist Club are, without even the slightest doubt, the no.1 rivalry in the VFL.

That said, while Fist Club will be bitterly disappointed to not claim back-to-back shields, they should be pleased with their form throughout the year – once again fielding a mostly-consistent team for the second year running, and one-upping their Peter Norman Trophy hat-trick record from 2015 & 2016 – this time claiming 4 trophies in a row from Fistivus XXIII to XXVI for the first-ever PNT “four-peat”. In the end, their 2-5 record in the last 2 tournaments to finish the season proved to ultimately be their undoing, but they will be back again in 2018, hungry to make amends and put their rivals to the sword.

The Bay City Fisters can also be reasonably satisfied with their season, claiming one PNT and being just 1 point away from another, to sit mathematically in range of the shield coming into the final Fistivus. Anchored by the 4-time Best & Fistest winner Carl “Carlossus” Creasey in attack, the Fisters were able to weather various line-up changes throughout the season and always remain in the hunt. In the end, they were unable to overcome the results of both Fistivus XXVI and the ultimate Fistivus, going 1-7 over those 2 tournaments to bring their win-loss record to 13-13. With the Bay City talent pool growing constantly however, they are sure to be back in the thick of it in 2018.

After getting a taste of it at the final Fistivus of 2016, the Mutt Fisters returned for a full season in 2017, determined to apply their advanced volleyball prowess to the humble fistball courts. Despite showing flashes of genuine dominance, they were ultimately undone by 2 tournament forfeits at the tail-end of the season, robbing them of valuable championship points and forcing them to settle for a comfortable 4th placing. With a year of Fistivus experience under their belt however, combined with some national squad training experience, most will expect them to be the team most likely to climb the rankings in 2018.

And finally, the fallen Fistroy Lions. What has become of this once-dominant powerhouse club? After a somewhat-farcical 2016, in which they were seemingly constantly being topped up with international fill-ins just to be able to play, the Lions had a slightly more consistent team this season. However, they could not seem to convert that consistency into wins. Despite repeatedly pushing teams into three-set battles (they won 16 sets across their 26 matches), they were only able to record a dismal 4 wins for the entire season, easily claiming the final spot on the Men’s Division ladder. The season did finish off in a positive manner at least, finishing in their highest placing (3rd) for the year at Fistivus XXIX and adding 2 more victories to the paltry 2 earned from the previous 6 tournaments. They will most certainly be looking to make amends in 2018.

With the Roger Willen Shield now in their fists, the South Melbourne Fistball Club have officially qualified to take on the best New Zealand club at the Trans-Tasman Fistball Championships in January 2018, which will in turn give them the opportunity to qualify for the 2019 World Cup (should they beat the Kiwis). If they are successful and accept the invitation, they will make their second appearance at an IFA World Cup.

All in all, it seems apparent that the new split division format – Men’s Division, Mixed Division – was a considerable success, with the Men’s Division a competitive beast all season long. Will there be additional men’s teams in 2018? We’ll have to wait to see, when the players all return, bronzed and relaxed after a long Australian summer.

Fist on!

Share