From the Archives: Four Grand Finals at Kalangadoo — Hatherleigh's 2002 Finals Week

On Saturday 14 September 2002, the Mid South East football and netball season finished at Kalangadoo's Soldiers Memorial Oval, and Hatherleigh arrived with a chance to make history. The Eagles had teams in the grand final of all four football grades. That week's South Eastern Times asked whether they could pull off the "unequalled feat" of winning all four premierships.

The last club to get that far had been Tantanoola at Tarpeena in 1979. The Tigers finished runners-up in every contest, and the closest they came to a flag that day was a senior colts grand final they lost to Hatherleigh by just 11 points.

A record finals day

Kalangadoo was preparing for a record crowd. Thousands were expected, many travelling by car, and more than 100 were booked to ride the "Red Hen" rail cars from Mt Gambier. MSEFL officials were confident the record gate takings of $16,700, set at Glencoe in 1999, would be beaten. Starting times in all football grades were brought forward about 30 minutes, with the first siren at 9am for the junior colts match between Hatherleigh and Tantanoola.

A Grade: Hatherleigh v Nangwarry

The A Grade grand final was the one the district was waiting for. Hatherleigh had a "monkey on their backs": they had won the fewest A Grade flags in the MSEFL, and their only one had come in 1971. The Eagles hadn't played finals football since 1989, and their most recent grand final, in 1986, had ended in defeat.

The 2002 side put those doubts to rest in the second semi final on 31 August. Coach Simon Beggs, a past Kingston skipper and dual Mail Medallist, watched his team show no nerves on the small Mt Burr ground. They "found plenty of space, coped with the pressure and powered away to a convincing 54 point win."

Nangwarry, coached by Chris Fenn, earned their place by beating Mt Burr in the preliminary final.

J.L. Smith's preview, headlined "Eagles — too quick and fit", described a Hatherleigh side reshaped by recruiting:

• Recruits: Beggs, Tasmanians Darren Paul and Anthony Driessen, and district newcomers Simon Cook and Daniel Doecke.
• "Cheque book" taunts: the club had endured these all season because of those signings, but the preview said the quintet had "given great service to their new club" and lifted those around them.
• Teenage wingman: the team was also expected to include Andrew Winter.

The preview gave much of the credit to Peter Zeitz, coach in 2000 and 2001. His "stinging remarks" in his final report for the club yearbook "obviously inspired plenty of players to step up a cog in 2002". The newspaper quoted it:

"If 75% of current players became truly committed, Hatherleigh would easily account for a star-studded team of half-interested, hands-out-for-money players."

Zeitz had also written that "it is about time such a self-disciplined and focussed side as the 1971 premiership team re-emerges at Hatherleigh."

The writer noted that a premiership "could set the Eagles up for a decade of success and end the nightmares of March 2000, when the club almost folded." The verdict: Hatherleigh by 15 points.

The prediction proved right about the winner. Club records list 2002 as Hatherleigh's second A Grade premiership, and the first in 31 years.

Reserves: Hatherleigh v Kongorong

The Eagles faced Kongorong in the reserves grand final, and the Hawks started favourites. Kongorong had lost only one match all year. Hatherleigh had fielded a reserves team every season since the grade began in 1951. The paper said the club had won only one reserves flag in that time, in 1986. The MSEFL's official record lists Hatherleigh reserves premierships in both 1964 and 1986, so the paper's count appears to have missed 1964.

Hatherleigh went into the game depleted, having lost "Bob" Jones, Brian Palmer and Malcolm Parish during the finals. Kalangadoo reserves coach Mike Reilly tipped the Hawks, but gave the Eagles their due:

"The Eagles deserve to be in the grand final as they have got there due to their hard work."

Senior Colts: Hatherleigh v Mt Burr

The senior colts grand final was a contest between the two clubs that had dominated the grade since the MSEFL introduced it in 1958.

• Hatherleigh: 11 senior colts flags going into the game, the most recent in 1997.
• Mt Burr: eight senior colts flags, the most recent in 1993.

The two sides had beaten each other once in the minor round. Glencoe senior colts coach Ernie Scheidl leaned towards a narrow Mt Burr win, but spoke highly of the Eagles:

"The Eagles are a reasonably tall side, they win clean possessions and they gel together well as a team."

He singled out Sean Reilly, who kicked 10 goals for Hatherleigh in the second semi final.

Junior Colts: Hatherleigh v Tantanoola

Hatherleigh's junior colts were the only undefeated team in the competition, coached by Darryn Simon. They were chasing a hat-trick of premierships, having won an "unequalled 12 flags" since the competition began in 1970.

Glencoe's Ken Gosden, named MSEFL junior coach of the year that season, gave them the nod. He called Hatherleigh "a balanced and skilful team" and pointed to three of the competition's leading goalkickers: Tyson Smith, Jack Sullivan and Tom Reilly. Neil Skeer's grandson, Joe Rayson, was also playing for the junior colts that day. Neil is the man who polished the 1971 premiership team's boots.

The whole town behind them

Students from Millicent North Primary School made a giant "Go Hatherleigh Eagles" banner for the day. The club's presentation nights followed that week:

• Senior presentation evening: Friday 20 September 2002.
• Junior presentation evening: Saturday 21 September 2002, both at the Hatherleigh Sport & Recreation Centre clubrooms.

The paper also tipped David Sapiatzer of Albury, New South Wales, to make the longest trip of any Hatherleigh supporter. He had moved there two years earlier with his work, after playing more than 300 senior games with the Eagles, including the 1986 grand final loss.

Also in that week's paper

The same edition featured eight-year-old Millicent boy Dylan Clough. He won a handball competition run by Ryan Fitzgerald (Adelaide Crows) and Michael Wilson (Port Power), beating 300 other competitors aged five to 17, and scored five out of five. The win earned him a place in the State grand final in Adelaide on Thursday 19 September 2002. The paper described him as a Port Power supporter whose idol was Stewart Dew, and as too young at the time to play football.

A Dylan Clough later won the Hatherleigh Reserves best and fairest in 2018 [to verify whether this is the same person].

Historical context

The 2002 grand final day marked a turning point. The A Grade side ended a 31-year wait, and the premierships that followed in 2005, 2008 and 2013, and the run of 2024, 2025 and 2026, have made the "fewest flags" tag a distant memory.

The club's archive doesn't yet hold the full grand final scores or results for the other grades from that day. If you have the Monday paper, a program or a photo, please share it with the club.

Read more: From the Archives: The 1971 premiership and Neil Skeer's promise · See the 2002 clippings