Thunder Frightens the Swans to earn Grand Final Birth

Peel continue their march toward a flag with a hard-fought and well deserved 47-point triumph over Swan Districts in the Preliminary Final. 

Peel Thunder claimed their largest win of this final series with a thumping 47-point victory over a hungry Swans side on Sunday Afternoon. The win sees the club claim their spot in the Grand Final. 

Following the nail-biting win over Claremont, a fresh Peel Thunder looked grateful to be there, relinquishing control of possession through the middle early.  

A packed-out Steel Blue Oval saw Swan Districts set the tone for the quarter with a goal within the first few minutes of the match. 

The Thunder mustered up only behinds and turnovers in response as the Swans piled on four more consecutive goals early. 

Peel found strength around the contest lat in the quarter through Nathan O'Driscoll (24 disposals, five marks, four inside 50's) and Liam Reidy (51 hit-outs, 15 disposals, eight inside 50's) who brought the fire and determination the Thunder side were lacking. 

The Thunder unable to capitalise on the shift in momentum tallying five consecutive behinds to end the first term goalless in a 24-point deficit. 

Peel came out fearless and determined to start the second term, drawing first blood early through young forward Corey Tregenza (four goals, eight disposals). 

A newly energised Thunder side ravaged through centre clearances as composure and class from Neil Erasmus (33 disposals, eight tackles, five inside 50's) found a leading Cooper Simpson (six disposals, two tackles) who slotted another goal for Peel minutes later. 

The fight brought to a Swan Districts team holding onto their two-goal lead with clenched fists. 

A goal-square mark from Matt Taberner (five goals, eight disposals) opened his account for the day and mounted pressure onto hunted Swans. 

Patrick Voss (two goals, four tackles) stamped his presence on the game with a stylish snap minutes later. 

The goal providing Peel with their first lead of the match and the side looking like they weren't taking their foot off the gas anytime soon. 

Reidy, Erasmus and O'Driscoll all had the ball on a string through the second while strong ball getting performances from Blair Bell (15 disposals, three inside 50's) and Jack Sears (18 disposals, five marks, five inside 50's) led to a dominant Thunder midfield. 

Taberner continued the surge converting a holding free-kick from straight in-front and making it five consecutive goals for the away side. 

A set shot from Swans' Leigh Kohlmann supplied the home side with some spirit but were quickly matched when Voss found Tregenza on the overlap for his second and the Thunder's sixth. 

High intensity and relentless tug-of-war football headlined a first half which saw the Peel Thunder enter the main break with a 9-point lead. 

Picking up from where they left off, Peel opened the goal-scoring account in the first minute through Bell. 

Two of the leagues premier midfields battling it out saw the Thunder unable to extend their lead through a goalless fifteen minute portion of the term for both teams. 

A Swan Districts snap for goal broke the drought to cut the margin to within single figures and proved the game was still either sides for the taking. 

Quick intercepting hands from Jacob Hewitt (14 disposals, seven tackles, five inside 50's) and a bullet delivered by Taj Wyburd (10 disposals, three tackles) found an open Tregenza in the goal square to answer the Swans. 

The thunder outrunning the Swan Districts late in the quarter and sitting in pole position going into the last break 15-point leaders. 

Clumsy positioning penalised Peel when Bo Allan (12 disposals, four tackles) gave away a 50-metre penalty to set up the opening goal of the quarter for the Swans five minutes into the fourth. 

Alan making up for his mistake minutes later finding Taberner on the goal-line from seventy out, poking the ball over the line to slot his third of the day. 

His goal opening the floodgates. 

Brilliance in the form of Brady Grey (11 disposals, five tackles) sidestepped swarming Swans to boot a goal. The entire Thunder side getting around the veteran who was a talking point between the clubs all week. 

Grand stands erupted when Voss tossed Swans' Jake Pasini aside and streamed down the wing inside 50. Voss taking multiple bounces before finding Taberner over the top with a handball to extend the lead to 29-points. 

A tired home side unable to contain unforgiving stoppage dominance. Reidy with twenty hit-outs alone in the final term. 

The Swans' six-point attempt at closing the margin was rebuffed by Voss who added his second goal of the day. Taberner joining the party to bring his tally to five soon after. 

Consecutive goals bringing the lead to 35-points, putting the Swans to sleep with less than ten minutes left. 

Erasmus proved he can do it all and showed off his goal-kicking ability with a superb snap around the body to start the celebrations for the Peel fans who travelled the journey. 

Tregenza capping off his day with a career-high fourth goal with the siren sounding just a minute later to send Peel Thunder through to the Grand Final and bury the Swans in a 15.13 (103) to 9.2 (56) victory. The win cementing this Peel Thunder team as bonafide contenders for the flag with only one game left in the season. 

Star midfielder Nathan O'Driscoll highlighted how special the win was post-game. 

"Emotions are still pretty high," O'Driscoll said. 

"A lot of the boys are out here with their families now and we got the families in the room after and it's a great feeling." 

O'Driscoll also praised the work of Neil Erasmus and Liam Reidy and is ready to prepare for next week's match. 

"It's unreal. Like they're both two young guns and it's really good to play with them in the midfield and they lead really well."

"Start off by reviewing this game and then get gown the funnel later on in the week and focus on East Perth and we'll review how we played against them last time and fix some things for sure." 

Defender Michael Sellwood credits the resilience of the group to fight back after a lacklustre opening quarter. 

"The belief was there, we just didn't execute exactly how we wanted to (during the first quarter)."

"We know that when we're playing to our roles and playing to the system we can get it done so the message was just to keep belief in the group."

When asked about the tension pre-hame and the rivalry between the clubs, Sellwood noted it's value to the team. 

"Yeah, we addressed it. We knew that we were coming into a hostile crowd and a hostile environment. We were told to embrace it and I feel like we did". 

He believes last year's loss only makes the group stronger going into next week. 

"This year we're definitely going to have a big fire in our belly to come out and perform." 

"We''ll take our experience into the game and hopefully it serves us well." 

The club's preparation isn't deterred by a Grand Final birth. 

"We'll get back to the club, recover and just reset, training on Tuesday and back to normalities, nothing really changes," Selwood said. 

Peel Thunder will be looking to take home their third premiership in club history next week against East Perth at Optus Stadium on Sunday September 22nd. 

Peel Thunder: 0.7 6.10 8.11 15.13 (103) 

Swan Districts: 5.1 6.1 7.2 9.2 (56) 

Goals: 

Peel Thunder: 5 M Taberner, 4 C Tregenza, 2 P Voss, 1 B Grey, B Bell, C Simpson, N Erasmus

Swan Districts: 2 L Kohlmann, B Hewett, T Edwards, 1 B Watson, J Mchlachlan, L Tester 

By Luke Rechichi, Curtin University