The ‘huge’ quarter that saw Lancaster past reigning premier

After half-time the side’s intensity dropped, complacency set in and its football became more reactive than proactive.

It was a far cry from an opening half where Lancaster kicked seven of the game’s first nine goals and played it largely on its own terms.

Reigning premier Murchison doesn’t need much latitude to take advantage and it pounced on the Wombats with four goals to zip in the third quarter.

Coach Nick Ryan made it clear to his players at three-quarter time the importance of taking the opportunity in front of them and not wasting their strong body of work in 2026.

Illustrating why he held his title, captain Charlie McLay provided the early moment in the fourth, swinging the contest back in the Wombats’ favour.

McLay won a hard-fought one-on-one in the forward 50 before finishing with a sensational banana from the boundary to tie the score at 53-53.

“It was a real uplifting moment for us,” Ryan said.

Later on, Ricky Thomson booted his third of the afternoon, ending a desperate back-and-forth 14-minute period.

With the game’s physicality rising as the clock ticked, Ryan sensed one more goal for his side would seal victory.

His feeling was correct, Thomson’s effort eventually being the clincher as the coach’s message resonated with his players.

“I've been pretty fortunate with the group I've got,” Ryan said.

“They’ve been very responsive all year to that sort of thing.”

Lancaster held a seven-point lead with just over five minutes to play, though Ryan and his coaching staff had mistakenly believed there were only a couple of minutes left.

Thinking they would only need to momentarily defend before the siren, the Wombats rushed a couple of spares behind the ball.

In the end, Lancaster was locked into its defensive half for a prolonged period, but stood up to countless entries as the Grasshoppers failed to find a late winning goal.

“It was a huge effort,” Ryan said.

“The boys were told before the game, we know that tough defence holds up in finals especially, so for that to show was really promising.”

The 61-60 result not only represented Lancaster’s progression into the grand final, but an exorcising of demons, having lost the 2025 decider to the same side by two points.

Given the context, Ryan wanted his group to enjoy the moment, especially as it had reached its pre-season goal.

But the coach also made it clear that Lancaster’s job was not done yet.

The Wombats will be slight underdogs in the grand final against Nagambie, a side Lancaster has failed to beat in two meetings this year.

But the two sides did end the regular season with the same record, while the Lakers had to overturn a three-quarter time deficit in their recent grand final qualifier.

“Sometimes there are sides that go into a grand final and they’re pretty much a lamb to slaughter, but we know that we’re not in that position and that we’re every chance to get the result on Saturday,” Ryan said.

The coach is confident, but understands Lancaster needs to play at its best to win what would be a third flag in the past five seasons.

The Wombats have no early team news for the decider and Ryan feels the side can cover any unexpected late absences well with the depth it possesses.