Liam Durkin and Zac Standish
IT was a very eerie outcome for Four Quarters last week after we labelled Mirboo North the masters of the Houdini Act and the Tigers produced another get-out-of-jail win with a goal after the siren.
Of all the football teams in Gippsland, Mirboo North would have to be the one that has an almost supernatural ability to win not only games but finals and premierships from seemingly impossible positions.
This week, we take a look at some of Mirboo North’s most phenomenal and truly mind- boggling premiership victories.
To think how different the course of history would have been had the ball sailed through a different side of the goal post in some of these games.
1. 2014 Mid Gippsland FL senior grand final
IF you were to tell the story of this game to a Hollywood filmmaker even they would throw it out for being too unbelievable.
In short, Mirboo North ended up winning a grand final against the same team that beat them by 90 points in the semi-final just two weeks prior.
In full, Mirboo North ended up winning a grand final by a point against Newborough, a team that had beaten them by a total of 241 points in its three previous encounters during the 2014 season.
The grand final saw the Tigers take a 23-point lead into half-time, before the Bulldogs slammed on nine goals in the third term to regain control.
Up by 13 points with one quarter to play, the 52 cards and two jokers in the deck fell the Tigers way, with Shane Peters taking a diving mark deep into time on and kicking what was to be the winning goal.
“We’ve had an interesting five weeks,” Peters told The Express at the time.
“We’ve been thumped twice but steely resolve and sticking together, if you have the faith in one another fairy tales can come true.”
In a sign of just how remarkably life can work out for some people, the win capped of an incredible 12 months for Peters.
The previous year he graciously omitted himself for the Tigers grand final, and then a year later walked off the ground with a premiership, best on ground medal and the winning goal to his name.
Those who believe in karma may have seen it in its fullest in that instance.
Mirboo North 12.15 (87) defeated Newborough 13.8 (86).
2. 2017 Mid Gippsland FL senior grand final
AS they say, premierships aren’t won in July.
Mirboo North well and truly timed their run to perfection in 2017 with a genuine come-from-the-clouds grand final victory.
After virtually stumbling through the home and away season and scrapping into the finals on percentage, the Tigers proved that finals are a whole new season on their way to a third flag in five years.
Mirboo North had only won four games at the halfway mark of the year, and were still out of the finals with one round to play.
They ended the regular season on the same number of wins as Trafalgar who finished sixth.
The Bloods would have went into finals ahead of Mirboo North had it not been for a one-point loss to Yinnar in the last round.
Come finals, the Tigers put it all together, winning the elimination final over reigning premier Newborough, and knocking Thorpdale and Yallourn Yallourn North out in straight sets the following two weeks.
A heavy track in the grand final made for a wet weather slog against Yinnar, and once again Mirboo North had their noses in front at the final siren, clinging on by two points.
Had the siren sounded one second later Yinnar would have won, as the ball was sailing through for a goal.
In an amazing side story, veteran Tigers full-forward Tim Traill was brought into the team for the preliminary final having not played senior football in two years. The man known as Tiger Tim then kicked four goals in the preliminary final and two in the grand final.
Mirboo North 5.12 (42) defeated Yinnar 5.10 (40).
3. 2006 Mid Gippsland FL senior grand final
WHILE the final margin in the 2006 grand final indicates a comfortable Mirboo North win, the lead up to the decider was in keeping with the mystical turnaround of the previously listed examples.
The Tigers finished the 2006 regular season in third position, yet the difference between them and minor premier Morwell East was close to 100 percentage points and an astonishing 349 on the points scored aggregate.
As the finals series rolled on, things appeared to be going to script, with Morwell East edging out the Tigers in the second semi-final.
Mirboo North took the long way to the grand final, and then somehow found a way to completely shut down the Hawks potency inside 50, keeping them to just a single goal and a handful of behinds. The Hawks final score of 1.3 (9) is the lowest grand final score in Mid Gippsland football history, and was made even more bewildering by the fact just two weeks prior they had registered 25 scoring shots against the same team.
Mirboo North 10.8 (68) defeated Morwell East 1.3 (9).
4. 2011 Mid Gippsland FL thirds grand final
THE young Tigers finished the 2011 regular season in fourth position, before hitting their straps when the finals rolled around.
It may never have happened, as Mirboo North only won the elimination final against Trafalgar by four points, but come grand final day, the Tigers would not be denied.
Their grand final opponents Newborough, had lost one game for the entire season leading in – and even then that loss did not occur until round 17.
The Bulldogs finished 18 points clear of Mirboo North on the ladder, and had also demolished the Tigers by 56 points the last time the teams met.
Newborough was two points up at half-time in the decider, but a four goal to nil third term paved the way for Mirboo North to take the flag.
Mirboo North 8.7 (55) defeated Newborough 4.7 (31).
And it doesn’t just happen in footy…
THERE must be something in the water up at Mirboo North when it comes to grand finals, as the same thing seems to happen in summer.
A Rob Phoenix epic guided the team across the line in the 2013/14 Central Gippsland Cricket Association grand final against Latrobe.
Mirboo North was 5/74 in pursuit of 291, but an unbeaten 125 from Phoenix and a ninth wicket partnership of 91 with Dale Banks scampered the winning runs in the 100th and final over of what is regarded as the greatest game in CGCA history.
A couple of seasons later it was Phoenix again, who masterminded an astonishing reverse-outright semi-final win on route to another premiership.
And just last season Mirboo North was 5/25 in the semi-final and held on for a draw to advance to the decider – where even then they were 7/88 and found a way to win.
So what is it about Mirboo North and grand finals?
If you have the answer to what we will dub the ‘Mirboo North Mystery’, let our newsroom know at sport@lvexpress.com.au
