ULTIMA have powered their way into this weekend’s Golden Rivers grand final with a mammoth 108-point preliminary final win over Wandella.
The Roos had the upper hand all game, playing to the blustery conditions in a stoppage-heavy slog to win 19.19 (133) to 4.1 (25).
The win sets Ultima up for a rematch of last year’s grand final, when they travel to Hay in the hopes of stopping the Lions from going back-to-back.
Roos coach Kyle Symons said they were raring to go one step further and avenge last year’s loss.
“It’s very exciting for us, the opportunity to win a premiership is what we all work towards all year,” he said.
“To get another shot at what all the teams are playing for, and to get another shot at Hay is something we’ve had our eyes on.
“After last year, we don’t want to be on the wrong side of this game so we’ll do our planning and get this one right.
“We’ve got a few footy teams playing next week, so everyone is very excited and the whole town will get around us.
“It’ll be an even better week if we can travel back with the cup next Saturday.”
After both sides spent the game’s early period testing out the conditions, the Roos were able to get on top and pile pressure onto the Bombers backline.
The Roos showed their class by scoring three goals to the Bombers one in the opening term, controlling the play and overlapping well
There was concern for Ultima when they were knocked down to three players on the interchange after Brodie Bennett was helped from the ground with a shoulder injury.
But the one less rotation made no difference in the second quarter, as the Roos blew the game out of the water with seven goals to one.
Jake Foster was immense for the Roos through the middle, getting on top of the clearance work alongside Zac Cattlin and Tom Bull.
Symons said that it was this grunt work that allowed his side to get the ball forward with the Roos outside run.
“We made a real effort of getting the ball into space today, trying to open up the ground and keep it off that side,” Symons said.
“We knew the conditions weren’t great, but we backed our leg speed and our skills – we have a lot of running power in our team.
“Instead of wasting that, we knew we’d have to utilise it today, and that ability shows through with the 38 scoring shots we had.
Carrying a 57-point lead into half-time, the Roos didn’t let up – shrewdly keeping the Bombers forwards in check and holding them to just four goals for the game.
Caillum Brady was influential off half-back, while the experienced heads of Lincoln Frost and Jamie Nicholas played big roles to shut down Justin Robinson and Logan Keighran.
Jay Reynolds top scored for the Roos with four goals, while Bailey Codling was strong across half forward kicking two goals, as did Ryan Devereux, Corey grey and Cameron Johnson.
Jye Purtill worked hard to get the upper hand in the ruck, often getting to the ball first and giving Ultima’s rovers first use of the ball.
Michael Rowe was the Bombers star in a game not fit for forwards, but continued his strong ways to finish the game with all four of Wandella’s goals.
Under immense pressure for much of the game, Ryan Lancaster and Tim Robinson battled the conditions and their opposition all game in the Bombers defence.
Adam Ward and John Cooper were good and covered a lot of ground, while Jonty Taylor and Oliver Macartney also impressed.
Holding a 78-point margin heading into the final term, the Roos would have been forgiven for taking the foot off the gas.
But they did anything but, and after conceding the first goal of the quarter Ultima kicked the game’s last five goals to push the margin to over three digits.
The Roos will now hit the road to Hay this weekend, as they hunt their first senior premiership since 2015.
