Collegians hold on to complete perfect Premiership season – Premier B Men’s Grand Final Review

Collegians 10.19 (79) def 9.13 (67)

Collegians have fought off a brave De La Salle outfit to claim the 2026 Premier B Men’s Premiership, winning by 12 points at Trevor Barker Beach Oval.

After trailing at three-quarter time for the first time all year, the Lions made the most of a howling breeze in the final term, holding on to win.

The match was decided by a brilliant piece of play from Jordan Carroll at the 28-minute mark, who intercepted a handpass at half-forward, before converting from long range to seal the Premiership for the Lions.

Earlier in the match, De La made the most of winning the toss and electing to kick with the breeze, booting four of the first five goals of the match to take a 19-point lead into quarter time.

The Lions responded with a four-goal quarter of their term, overturning the deficit to lead by 11 points at the main break.

De La again took advantage when kicking with the win again in the third term, but a vital goal on the siren into the breeze from Collegians’ Alexander Lukic brought the margin back to just four points at the final change.

The Minor Premiers then reclaimed the lead early in the final term when Samuel Parsons found some space inside attacking 50, but what followed was a nervous 20-minute period with no goals.

Max Pinchbeck eventually broke the deadlock with an opportunistic snap, before Nicholas Leontaritis set up a grandstand finish, kicking De La’s first goal into the wind 26 minutes into the last term and bringing the margin back to five points.

From there, it took the individual brilliance of Carroll in the dying moments to settle the issue, completing a perfect 20-0 season for the Lions.

Collegians coach Jordie McKenzie said his players stood up in their biggest challenge of the year.

“It’s the toughest game we’ve had all season,” McKenzie said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game. De La played really well.

“Our third quarter was clearly our best of the day. We started to get some handball chains against the breeze and ultimately kicked a couple of game-defining goals.

“It’s definitely a really special win. A lot of good clubs and players are in Premier B. To have that extra layer of going undefeated for the first time in club history is special.

“We’ll enjoy this for a bit.”

De La coach Nick Hyland expressed immense pride in the way his team performed despite the final result.

“Our guys were understandably devastated,” Hyland said. “But I wanted them to know how proud we were of the efforts the players put in.

“We knew we were going to be up against it. Across the course of the day, we defended really well. I thought we were running out of the game better but couldn’t capitalise for whatever reason.

“As a coach, you can’t ask for more than the players emptying their tanks, and the 22 did just that.

“But credit to Jordie and his players for their season.”