The Tasmania Devils have secured a historic finals spot in their inaugural VFL season, fighting back to beat second-placed Werribee by 12 points at North Hobart Oval today.
The Devils kicked 14.14 (98) to the Tigers’ 12.14 (86) in front of around 5,000 fans on Member Appreciation Round.
It was a costly afternoon though, with ruckman Cameron Owen going down with a groin injury and Harry Brereton re-injuring a shoulder that has already required two surgeries.
Both will be assessed on Monday ahead of next weekend’s final round match against Greater Western Sydney in Sydney.
The Devils were slow out of the blocks as Werribee kicked three early goals before Hugh Dixon got Tasmania on the board.
Geordie Payne nailed a long-range set shot late in the term to trim the margin to four points at the first break.
Werribee piled on another three goals early in the second quarter, but Maddox Iverach, Brandon Leary and captain Robbie Fox answered to bring the deficit back to two points.
Jed Hagan edged the Devils five points clear by three-quarter time and the final term belonged to Tasmania.
The Devils booted five of the first six goals of the last quarter to put the result beyond doubt.
Leary led all players with 28 disposals, while Payne finished with 107 fantasy points.
Dixon kicked two goals and racked up 15 contested possessions alongside Aiden Begg, who also laid a match-high 10 tackles.
Tasmania was dominant across the board, finishing with 375 disposals to 286, 98 marks to 66 and 71 tackles to 47.
Dixon said the team was over the moon with the win.
“I think now we’ve pretty much solidified ourselves in the top 6, which is fantastic,” Dixon told Seven shortly after the siren sounded.
“Werribee, they’ve won … their last 9 in a row, so good to knock them off heading into finals.”
Dixon praised Begg’s performance in the ruck, saying the team calls him “the cat” for the way he lands on his feet after every contest.
“His follow-up work and his aggression’s second to none,” he said.
“He’s a little bit undersized for a ruck these days, but just his ability to follow up and have that presence on the ground … tackling or ground ball, it’s fantastic.”
Dixon also singled out the home crowd for lifting the team.
“They always put on a good performance when we play at North Hobart,” he said.
“You could really feel it … it’s amazing.”
