If you hear drums beating across the west over the next 10 days, there’s a fair chance it will be a happy Newport Power fan warming up to play their part at the WRFL division 3 grand final.
The Power did what many thought impossible at the weekend, winning through to the season decider in their first year as a senior club in the league.
A passionate supporter base has come along for a thrill ride, adding atmosphere at local grounds with their playing of the drums.
Even the most staunch Power drum beaters must have gone into the season with a touch of pessimism. It’s simply not the norm for a club to take a competition by storm in their first season.
“We just wanted to win a few games at the start of the year, but now we’ve got into a grand final,” Power assistant coach John Rayner said. “If we win it, it’s a bonus. We’ll just embrace the fortnight, enjoy it and see what happens.”
Newport’s wildest dreams were realised in a dramatic ending. The Power were holding on for dear life when Parkside penetrated their inside 50. In a pressure moment, defender Issa Taleb took a mark that saved his side, clinching the narrowest of wins.
“It was a clutch moment,” Rayner said. “He went back with the flight of the ball and it stuck. It was a game-saving mark; if it had got over the back, they would’ve run into an open goal and the result would have been different.”
All the more impressive was Newport’s ability to win without player-coach Mark Williams on the field.
Williams, a Hawthorn premiership player and the Power’s leading goalkicker with 41 goals this season, was nursing an undisclosed injury but will be available to play in the grand final.
“If it was cut-throat game I believe he would’ve played today,” Rayner said. “That’s the advantage of getting the double chance: we can give him another seven days, but now he’s got the best part of 14 to freshen up.”
Newport was not lacking in on-field leadership. Ziad Kadour and Munir El Houli provided that in spades.
Kadour is possibly the most influential player on the Power list. “He’s a calming influence over the group,” Rayner said.
El Houli was one of the Power’s big name recruits. His career has been highlighted by his goalkicking ability, but he has sacrificed his own game for the team.
“He’s come across as a goalkicker, but we put him everywhere on the ground,” Rayner said. “He’s a class act.”
Parkside has a tough road to get on the biggest stage to face Newport again.
The Magpies not only face the improving Tarneit but have to do so on their home ground at Wootten Road Reserve on Sunday. Should the Magpies fail in their preliminary final against the Titans, there will surely be a ‘please explain’ from the club delivered to the WRFL over why the third-ranked Tarneit has been given home ground advantage. Tarneit advanced with a 22-point win over Sanctuary Lakes on Sunday.
