Vultures vs Devils might sound like the title of a TV Horror series or video game but it is in fact a rivalry between two clubs in the ORFFA - The Venus Bay Vultures and Cradle Mountain Devils that has intensified rapidly over the past few seasons. The Vultures hosted the Devils in the 2021 ORFFA Grand Final, the third time these arch-rivals rivals have met in the past three finals series. The ledger from the two previous finals battles stood at one-all. In arguably the biggest upset in ORFFA finals history the seventh placed Cradle Mountain Devils defeated minor premiers, Venus Bay Vultures in the 2018 quarter final to simultaneously record the Devils first-ever finals victory and inflict the Vultures only defeat of the 2018 season 1434 to 1219. From 2019 to the end of the 2021 ORFFA home and away season the Venus Bay Vultures proved to be a nightmare opponent for Cradle Mountain, winning all four encounters between the two clubs to be the only club the Devils didn’t have a victory against during this period. The most important of these matches was the 2019 semi final where the second placed Devils hosted the fifth placed Vultures and were given a football lesson, being dismantled 1149 to 1510 by Venus Bay in one of the most lopsided finals in league history. The following week @Fitzy's Vultures on the road won their first ORFFA premiership defeating Foul Bay 1384 to 1234. Past five matches between the Vultures and Devils 2018 quarter final Venus Bay Vultures 1219 lost to Cradle Mountain Devils 1434 Round 2 2019 Venus Bay Vultures 1373 defeated Cradle Mountain Devils 1293 2019 semi final Cradle Mountain Devils 1149 lost to Venus Bay Vultures 1510 2020 Round 5 Cradle Mountain Devils 1260 lost to Venus Bay Vultures 1263 Round 10 2021 Venus Bay Vultures 1326 defeated Cradle Mountain Devils 1256 Since the Devils Round 10 loss to the Vultures this season they played a more attacking game-style to average 1,425 points per game and record eight wins from nine games with the only exception being a 289 point loss to the Foul Bay Chickens in Round 13. From Venus Bay’s Round 10 victory against the Devils onwards the Vultures won nine of their 10 games leading up to the Grand Final so both teams displayed great form in the second half of the season. Venus Bay recorded 14 wins and three losses during the 2021 home and away season to finish in second place, two positions ahead of Cradle Mountain who had a record of 12 wins and five losses. The Devils had the advantage in points scored during the 2021 home and away season with 1,340 points per game to the Vultures 1,263. The Vultures defeated Foul Bay 1469 to 1324 in a semi final and strengthened their Grand Final side with the inclusion of four automatic selections - defender Jeremy Howe, forwards Toby Greene and Buddy Franklin along with midfielder Jaeger O'Meara for Orazio Fantasia (hamstring), Shaun Higgins (managed ), Jesse Hogan (omitted) and Angus Brayshaw (omitted). Following Cradle Mountain’s semi final victory against the Gundagai Grasshoppers 1418 to 1248 they made one forced change to their Grand Final team with midfielder Chris Mayne in his last ever game being brought into the side for the Devils only Tasmanian player, ruckman Toby Nankervis (finger). The Devils best player from the semi final victory, midfielder Jack Redden was a late withdrawal due to illness and replaced by forward/defender Taylor Duryea. The key issue in the 2021 ORFFA Grand Final shaped to be whether Cradle Mountain could replicate their form from the second half of the season against the Vultures which would give them an excellent chance of victory or whether the Vultures could again restrict them to 1250-1300 points which would be likely to extend Venus Bay’s winning streak over the Devils to five games and secure the Vultures second premiership. The Vultures got off to a dream start with Jaeger O’Meara winning the opening clearance and passing to Buddy Franklin who marked 60 metres out from goal. Buddy played on and kicked a skillful goal from 55 metres out to give Venus Bay the first goal of the game after 20 seconds. The Venus Bay defense led by Jack Crisp was able to keep the Devils forward line in check during their first quarter and generate Vultures attacking forays from the defensive half. Cradle Mountain were unable to handle the intense pressure applied by the Vultures which led to some skill errors. The first quarter was bookended by goals to Vultures forward Buddy Franklin which contributed to Venus Bay leading at quarter time by 140 points, 377 to 237, putting the Vultures on track for just over 1500 points and the Devils on track for less than 1000 points. Early in the second quarter Devils midfielder Jacob Hopper displayed tremendous poise to evade three Vultures and kick a classy goal from the forward pocket to provide the Devils with the spark they desperately needed. After Hopper’s goal Cradle Mountain rediscovered their second half of the season form with Hopper, Jack Steele and Dayne Zorko playing prominent roles. Venus Bay maintained their high standard from the first quarter with Luke Parker excelling in the midfield and Bailey Dale winning plenty of the footy all over the field. The Devils were able to outscore the Vultures 422 to 379 in the second quarter, reducing the deficit at half-time to 97 points. Cradle Mountain key defender Jake Lever’s superb intercept marking and drive provided by rebounding defender Daniel Rich were key factors in Venus Bay’s scoring output dropping slightly from the 1500+ pace it had set in the first half and Cradle Mountain having the scoreboard ticking over regularly during the third term. Venus Bay midfielder Jaeger O’Meara was a shining light for his team and whilst the Devils steadily reduced the margin throughout the third quarter the Vultures maintained a narrow 12 point lead, 1083 to 1071 at three quarter-time. At the two minute mark of the final term CMD ruck/forward Rowan Marshall took the ball out of the ruck from a throw in the forward pocket and kicked a snap goal to give the Devils the lead for the first time in the game. Vultures forward Kosi Pickett and defender Jack Crisp tried to lead a Vultures fightback, however the Cradle Mountain had the Vultures measure and extended their lead as the final quarter progressed. In the dying minutes Jack Steele passed to Devils veteran Tom Lynch who kicked the sealer with his set-shot. After a slow start the Cradle Mountain Devils were phenomenal from term two onwards to generate a total score of 1466 points and defeat their nemesis, the Venus Bay Vultures by 70 points and win their first ORFFA premiership. Venus Bay delivered a consistent performance with only two sub 80 scores, nine players scored between 80 and 99 and a quartet of Vultures reached triple figures. In the vast majority of ORFFA games that level of performance would be sufficient to gain the victory. Cradle Mountain had more scores at either end of the spectrum with five sub 80 scores, nine tons and just one score between 80 and 99. After being on the ropes with only 237 points on the board at quarter-time, the Devils were able to unleash three consecutive quarters of 375 points+ (equivalent to 1,500 points for the game) to reel the Vultures in and overrun them in the last quarter. Whilst the third finals episode of Vultures vs Devils was unable to match the sheer unpredictability of the first two episodes when the underdog recorded an upset victory, episode three provided a higher standard game and had a very significant momentum swing at the start of the second quarter. The 2021 GF lived up to the high expectations in the lead-up and was a far more thrilling contest than the two previous Vultures-Devils finals. The combined 2,862 points scored by the Vultures and Devils broke the record for the highest aggregate score in an ORFFA Grand Final, surpassing the previous record of 2,807 points set by the Foul Bay Chickens (1471) and Darraweit Guim Dirigibles (1336) in the ORFFA’s inaugural Grand Final in 2013. Cradle Mountain’s 1466 points in the 2021 Grand Final was the second highest score in an ORFFA Grand Final, falling just five points shy of the Chickens 2013 tally. Quarter by quarter 2021 ORFFA Grand Final scores Venus Bay Vultures vs Cradle Mountain Devils ¼ 3.75 377 237 ½ 7.5 756 (379) 659 (422) ¾ 11.25 1083 (327) 1071 (412) FT 15 1396 (313) 1466 (395) Devils acting captain Jack Steele narrowly won the medal for best afield with 129 points, just ahead of Vultures key forward Buddy Franklin (127) and Cradle Mountain key defender Jake Lever (126). Another three players scored 115+ VBV midfielder Jaeger O’Meara (120) along with CMD ruck/forward Rowan Marshall (120) and defender Daniel Rich (119) which meant that the top six players on the field were separated by just 10 points. Venus Bay Vultures 2021 Grand Final team and score DEF: J Crisp 97, D Houston 81, J Howe 58, L Henderson 84 (L Stocker) 320 MID: L Parker 110, J O'Meara 120, A Gaff 64, E Yeo 97 (A Brayshaw) 391 RUCK: O McInerney 96 FWD: B Dale 101, T Greene 89, L Franklin 127, J Daniher 88, (C Taylor) 405 INT: B Fiorini 88, K Pickett 94 (S Martin) 182 Total 1394 Cradle Mountain Devils 2021 Grand Final team and score Def: D Rich 119, J Lever 126, N Vlastuin 77, H Cunningham 59 (M O’Connor) 381 Mid: J Steele 129, J Hopper 110, Z Jones 112, C Mayne 110 (B Cook) 461 Ruc: T English 49 Fwd: D Zorko 109, R Marshall 120, T Membrey 74, T Lynch 107 (G Rohan 42) 410 Int: D Heppell 96, T Duryea 69(A Naughton 42) 165 Total 1466 Method of recruitment of Cradle Mountain’s 2021 premiership side: Inaugural Devils (2): D Zorko and D Heppell Pre-season draft (7): N Vlastuin, Z Jones, J Steele, J Lever, J Hopper, T English and R Marshall Traded in (3): T Lynch, D Rich and H Cunningham Mid-season draft (3): T Membrey, C Mayne and T Duryea Another three inaugural Devils on the club’s list in 2021 didn’t play in the GF due to injury or illness - Scott Pendlebury, Jack Redden and Michael Hurley, however played a significant role in the Devils rise to win an ORFFA premiership. Pendles has been the Devils captain for all 10 seasons and easily Cradle Mountain’s all-time best player. ORFFA Grand Finalists with the host listed first and premiers in bold 2013 Foul Bay Chickens (1) 1471 vs Darraweit Guim Dirigibles (7) 1336 margin 135 points 2014 Iron Knob Codpieces (1) 1400 vs Wagga Wagga Wombats (5) 1292 margin 108 points 2015 Birdsville Battlers (7) 1288 vs Larrikin Lagoon Lefties (8) 1294 margin 6 points 2016 Larrikin Lagoon Lefties (2) 1192 vs Venus Bay Vultures (8) 1138 margin 54 points 2017 Waikikamoocow Incorrigibles (1) 1357 vs Marble Bar Misfits (3) 1337 margin 20 points 2018 Cradle Mountain Devils (7) 1258 vs Marble Bar Misfits (8) 1370 margin 112 points 2019 Foul Bay Chickens (1) 1234 vs Venus Bay Vultures (5) 1382 margin 148 points 2021 Venus Bay Vultures (2) 1394 vs Cradle Mountain Devils (4) 1466 margin 72 points Due to time constraints a finals series was unable to be held by the ORFFA in 2012 and 2020. Premiers Runners Up 2012 Foul Bay Chickens (1) Iron Knob Codpieces (2) 2020 Gundagai Grasshoppers (1) Foul Bay Chickens (2) In the first eight ORFFA Grand Finals the home side and away side have each been victorious four times, however the visiting side has won the past three. These past three visiting victors were all contesting their second ORFFA Grand Final, having been defeated at their first attempt. Cradle Mountain at home lost the 2018 Grand Final to Marble Bar who became the first side to win the premiership after being runners-up in the previous season when the Cows defeated them by 20 points. As the visiting team in 2016 Venus Bay lost the 2016 Grand Final by 54 points to the Larrikin Lagoon Lefties. In 2019 again as the visiting team the Vultures defeated the Foul Bay Chickens by 148 points. A top four side has won the premiership decider five times whilst teams in the fifth to eighth bracket have won three Grand Finals. In four of the first five seasons the ORFFA Grand Final was won by a top two team at home whilst in the last three Grand Finals the victor has been an away side ranked fourth to eighth. All four 2021 ORFFA quarter finals were won by the home side, however the visiting side won the two semi finals and the Grand Final. Cradle Mountain became the first top four side to win a Grand Final as the visiting side.
Great write up Dean, and again well done to both.. FWIW Hopper was seen in a Marble Bar real estate agent's office recently
He was seen down Charlie's way a couple of years ago, but that turned out to just be a scenic drive from Cradle Mountain.
Fantastic write up @dmandrews - your records and knowledge are encyclopedia like. But much more interesting than the dusty tomes of old. Congrats on your victory, it will be fascinating to see if the pattern of beaten finalists winning a subsequent premiership continues.
Truly superb stuff Dean. That 6 point win by the Lefties! What memories. Still recall that nervous Sunday and last game scaling. No doubt this year’s grannie was a similar affair for both combatants. Great drama.