Reported by Justin Cooper

The Coburg Tigers Reserves side accounted for a struggling Port Melbourne outfit in the 2007 Reserves Grand Final at MC Labour Park on Sunday.

It was an eventful first term, which saw 6 goals kicked between the two sides as the Tigers took a slender 2 point lead at the first break.

But it was all the Tigers in the second term, which saw them take a 27 point advantage at the main break after Coburg slammed on 5 goals to Port’s 4 behinds.

The Tigers kept control in the third term, as they kicked 4 goals to Port’s 2, as they took an astonishing 52 point buffer at the last break.

But a 5 goal to 3 last term handed the Tigers the emphatic win and the 2007 Reserves Premiership, as they won 17.20 (112) to 8.8 (56).

Richmond listed player Cleve Hughes (5 goals) was a focal point upfront for the Tigers, as livewire forward Jonathan Mullins (3 goals) and Jake De Sousa (3 goals) all chipped in, keeping the Borough defense constantly under pressure.

Myles Sewell was terrific in the midfield as ruckman Steven Foster, who was best-a-field, constantly gave his midfield first use as Borough ruckman Rhys Bloomfield struggled to make an impact.

FRANKSTON captain Ash Roberts has called a close to his marvellous VFL career. 

Roberts,  27, says it's time  for him to focus on other things.

``At this  level, footy has to   be your priority,'' he said last Friday.

``It has to  be  number one and number two on your list, but  with me it's become three and four and five, so it's not as important as it needs to be.''

 Roberts  is likely to join Southern league  club Chelsea Heights as assistant coach next season.

The right-footer played 138 senior games.

 Frankston coach Brett Lovett said he would be remembered as one of the most courageous players  to  wear the  Frankston jumper.

Roberts shared the best-and-fairest award with Mickey Ablett in 2003, the same season he was named in the VFL team of the year.

VFL Grand Final Report
Reported by Michael Robinson

Geelong have won their 1st VFL Premiership for 4 years after thrashing Coburg Tigers by 74 points at MC Labour Park today.

In a game played in perfect conditions, The Cats dominated from the start it was only their conversion that let them down but they still took into quarter with 15 point lead.

Coburg came out agressively and that led to a all in brawl at the quarter time break.

In the 2nd quarter as the players continued to have apush and shove with at one stage Geelong's Nathan Djerrkura having 2 shots at goal without the ball being bounced. As the play settled down Geelong's midfield got right on top but once again poor conversion by the Cats led to an even 2nd quarter as the Cats remained 14 points up at the break.

The 3rd quarter was the killer for the Tigers as Geelong ran riot adding 7.6 to 0.1 to have the contest wrapped up by 3 Quarter Time to lead by 61 points. Tom Longeran after stopping Jack Riewoldt in the 1st half kicked 5 goals in the 3rd quarter onslaught.

Geelong, a hot flag favourite for several weeks, has selected 14 AFL-listed players and five AFL rookies in a powerful unit which also contains 2007 Liston Trophy winner James Byrne.

Coburg has improved through the finals and strengthened its side after its 31-point loss to the Cats in the qualifying final.

But Geelong could also be better with the inclusion of Kane Tenace and Sam Hunt after hamstring injuries.

The Burgers are young, willing and spirited and will be competitive but it's hard to see them controlling the Cats for the whole game.

Coburg coach Andrew Collins said coaching staff had been devising a new plan to try and overcome the challenge.

Calder Cannons and Murray Bushrangers have won their Preliminary Finals at MC Labour Park today to win through to the TAC Cup Grand Final to be played at the MCG next Saturday Morning.

In the 1st game today Calder dominated in general play in the 1st quarter but couldn't put on the scoreboard and when a couple of late goals by the Knights gave them a 2 point quarter time lead.

The Knights then dominated the 2nd quarter through their expierenced players Matt Kreuzer and Trent Cotchins as well as Patrick Veszpremi helped the Knights to a 6 goal to 4 quarter and a 17 point half time lead.

In the 3rd quarter the Cannons got back into the game with a 6 goals to 3 quarter with a late goal giving them the lead by 4 points at the last change. German, Trengove and Polkinghorne were dominated helping to shut down the Knights big guns.

With everything on the line it was the Cannons that got away kicking the 1st 2 goals to get a break but the Knights continued to fight even as they were running at of legs. When Trent Cotchin went off injured late in the final quarter it looked like the Knights were gone but they managed to get the margin within 7 points with a few minutes remaining but late goals to the Cannons sealed the Knights fate as Calder went on to win the game by 14 points to advance to the Grand Final.

Preliminary Finlas review

Courtesy Anthony Brady (3SER Casey FM)

In Preliminary Final action in the Victorian Football League (VFL) for season 2007, the Casey Radio 97.7FM 3SER team were at TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, on both Saturday and Sunday, to witness Geelong and Coburg post comprehensive victories.

On Saturday, in the Second Preliminary Final, it was a dominant 11-goal final term by the Cats which saw them smash a hapless North Ballarat Roosters side. The margin at three-quarter time had been just five points in favour of Geelong.

Beautiful spring-time conditions greeted players at TEAC Oval on Saturday, with sunshine and a warm top temperature in the mid-20s meaning bench rotations would be high by Cats coach Leigh Tudor and Roosters mentor Gerard FitzGerald.

A slight breeze favoured the Williamstown Road end of the ground, and after winning the coin toss, Geelong captain and 2007 J.J Liston medallist James Byrne elected to kick to that end in the first term.

The crowd was surprisingly good at 3500, with the overwhelming majority being Geelong fans, who decided to forego attending local league finals to support their VFL side.