{"id":170386,"date":"2025-09-20T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=170386"},"modified":"2025-09-19T10:32:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:32:39","slug":"tigers-saints-fight-for-gfl-gf-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/tigers-saints-fight-for-gfl-gf-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"Tigers, Saints fight for GFL GF spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST JOSEPH’S has toppled Colac to become the first Geelong Football League seniors side to reach this year’s Grand Final.<\/p>\n

After a tight first half that saw the Joeys<\/a> lead by just one straight kick, the team pulled away in the final two quarters to beat the Tigers 86-69.<\/p>\n

The gutsy win gives the Joeys a chance to win their first flag since 2018.<\/p>\n

Colac will have to quickly pick up the pieces from the loss, as the side looks ahead to a Preliminary Final against St Mary’s<\/a> today (Saturday, September 20).<\/p>\n

The Saints took care of an inaccurate Newtown & Chilwell side by 25 points in another wind-affected contest on Sunday, knocking the Eagles out of the finals hunt in straight sets.<\/p>\n

Steve Johnson’s mob surprised many with their second-place finish but just weren’t able to capitalise<\/p>\n

when they needed to most. They will take plenty of confidence into 2026 after keeping up with the experienced St Mary’s bodies for most of the match.<\/p>\n

Such experience will be crucial for the Saints in their clash with Colac, who are one of the toughest sides in the league.<\/p>\n

The two sides only played off once in the home and away season, with the Tigers were victorious by 52 points at Central Reserve.<\/p>\n

It will be Colac’s first Grand Final appearance since their 2019 loss against St Mary’s. Meanwhile, a Saints victory will take the side into their first Grand Final since 2022’s win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ST JOSEPH’S has toppled Colac to become the first Geelong Football League seniors side to reach this year’s Grand Final. After a tight first half that saw the Joeys lead by just one straight kick, the team pulled away in the final two quarters to beat the Tigers 86-69. The gutsy win gives the Joeys […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":170389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-170386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTigers, Saints fight for GFL GF spot - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Colac and St Mary\u2019s face off in the GFL Preliminary Final for a Grand Final berth after St Joseph\u2019s secured their spot with a win over Colac.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/tigers-saints-fight-for-gfl-gf-spot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tigers, Saints fight for GFL GF spot - 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