The Journey to our 2005 Premiership

18/09/2025

The Zebras go back-to-back!

History was not on the Sandringham Zebras’ side heading into the 2005 season. To that point, the Zebras had claimed eight Premierships in their history - but never once in succession.

Defending the breakthrough 2004 premiership was inevitably going to be a tall order. Coach of Sandringham, Mark Williams - formerly a player for the Zebras when they were unable to go back-to-back in 1993 - was aware of the task that lay ahead for his group.

“We’re going to be under the pump because we were successful last year,” he was quoted saying on the eve of the season.

Indeed, the Zebs had a target on their back in 2005, thanks to the success of the year prior. However, there were further unprecedented adversities that were set to confront the Zebs heading into their premiership defence. Heroes from their 2004 side, such as Melbourne-listed players Peter Walsh, Chris Lamb, and Adam Fisher, all left the Demons, and therefore were unavailable for Sandy. Meanwhile, ruckman Aaron Bishop also departed the Zebs directly. But while player turnaround was a challenge, it wasn’t necessarily one unique to the Zebras.

Overshadowing all of that though, was the tragic passing of Troy Broadbridge in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunamis, leaving an unimaginable void, and one far beyond the football field. While a Melbourne player by contract, Broadbridge had grown into a Zebra at heart. Sandringham’s alliance with Melbourne had seen many great Demons pass through Trevor Barker Beach Oval - but few, if any, had an impact as great as Troy Broadbridge. Stories of Broadbridge attending Sandringham games, even when they clashed with Melbourne matches, illustrated just how much he had embraced the Zebras.

Former Sandringham Premiership Coach Graeme Yeats reflected fondly on Broadbridge’s connection with the club at the time of his passing,

“One day Sandringham and Melbourne were playing on the same day, which didn’t happen often,” he said.

“The game was about to start and Broady and Daniel Bell walked into the coaching box. I asked them what they were doing there and Broady said 'I’ve come to support my teammates.' That shows you how much he embraced the Sandringham footy club.”

Yeats’ successor as coach of the Zebs, Mark Williams, remembered years later how beloved Broadbridge was at Beach Oval.

“We loved him playing for us, because we knew he loved all the blokes and he loved playing at Sandringham,” he told Paul Amy in 2019.

In 2000, a challenging first year in Sandy’s alliance with Melbourne, a 20-year-old Broadbridge was one of the key figures in transforming the alignment into a formidable one.

“We have always said that Troy and Chris Lamb built the bridge for the Sandringham and Melbourne playing lists,” then-Sandringham General Manager John Mennie would say.

Four years after the inaugural season, Broadbridge helped guide the Zebras to another Premiership, in what would be the final game of his career.

In honour of Broadbridge’s legacy at the Beach Oval, his wife Trisha would unfurl the ‘04 flag in front of a home crowd in round two. While the gesture symbolised the impact Broadbridge had at the club off-the-field, his loss was certainly being felt between the lines, too.

The beginning of the Zebras’ 2005 campaign reflected a playing group that was still coming to terms with the events of the off-season. A round one road trip to the Northern Bullants saw the Zebs smashed by 44 points, while only registering a score of 34. As such, they would begin 2005 in stark contrast to where they left off in 2004 - on the bottom of the ladder.

The emotion of the flag unfurling a week later helped the Zebs surge to a nine-point victory in the Grand Final rematch against Port Melbourne, but all was still not well at Beach Oval.

An injury in round three to star key forward Nick Sautner saw the Zebs struggle in his multi-week absence. The Zebs stumbled to 4-3 after round seven in the absence of the seven-time competition leading goalkicker, just holding onto fourth position on the ladder.

The prospect of breaking their premiership defence hoodoo threatened to live on, with other contenders such as Werribee emerging after a 10-0 start. The Tigers had entered the season with tempered expectations by their own admission, with Coach Simon Atkins saying before the season, “I’m hoping we can make the finals. We’ve got a much younger group than previous years.”

As Sandringham’s inconsistency saw the Zebras continue to be their own worst enemy, Werribee had positioned themselves as the clear flag favourites heading into the second half of the season. But the two sides’ round 14 meeting offered the Zebras the opportunity to remind the rest of the league of their Premiership credentials. In the Grand Final preview, they did just that, edging out the Tigers by nine points, dealing them their second loss of the season. Comforting for Zebras fans was Sautner kicking three, proving his injury concerns from earlier in the year were behind him.

After stumbling out of the gates early in the year, the Zebs had started to steady. In round 17, the Zebras hosted third-place Bendigo, another contender in the race for the Premiership. In another tight affair, the Zebs again were more composed, edging out the Bombers by six points, thanks to a goal by Steven Armstrong 31 minutes into time-on.

The Zebras had played themselves into form at the right time of year, and despite having too much ground to make up to claim top spot, they confirmed a double chance in a 49-point drubbing of Geelong in round 19. By the last week of the season, the Zebras had done enough to overtake Bendigo for third, setting up a date with the Northern Bullants in the Qualifying Final. Ironically, their round 20 opponent would be the Bullants, who travelled to Beach Oval to beat Sandringham for the second time that year.

The Zebs had succumbed to the Bullants by six points, albeit, it was a rather inconsequential result. However, Sandringham clearly hadn’t played all of their cards against the Bullants, as they would orchestrate a shocking 93-point turnaround in the first week of finals, defeating the Bullants 116-29. While the Zebs’ Premiership experience hadn’t been the difference in previous years, it clearly paid dividends against the Bullants, who were in their first final in seven years. Above all though, Mark Williams had timed his side’s run perfectly.

Bendigo would bounce back from a Qualifying Final defeat themselves to stand in the Zebs’ way in the Prelim a fortnight later. But Sandringham increased the gap between the two sides since their last meeting in round 17, winning by 39 points. The Bombers had led at one stage in the third quarter, but a 10-goal final quarter blitz by the Zebras was enough to catapult them back into a Grand Final.

In the other Prelim, Werribee took care of the Bullants to await Sandy in the Grand Final. Despite the Zebs’ September dominance to that point, the Tigers would enter the contest as favourites, having hardly put a foot wrong all year to finish the season three games clear of Sandringham on the ladder. But, as coach Williams pointed out, the Zebs had premiership experience from the year before on their side, and for the first time in the Club’s history, it might finally pay off.

“We were there last year and before that, and our experience is invaluable,” Williams said in the lead-up to the game.

Coach of the Tigers Simon Atkins also admitted that it could be one way for the Zebs to get the upper hand, saying “I think experience does help you a bit in finals.”

For the first half of the 2005 Grand Final though, you couldn’t split the two sides. The Zebs’ defence had kept damaging key forwards Jade Rawlings and James Podsiadly at bay, keeping the Tigers as a team to just four goals. But Sandy hadn’t been able to capitalise at the other end themselves, and such as, it was tied 30-30 at the main break.

But the third quarter is known as the Premiership quarter for a reason, and it was then when the Zebras flexed their muscles to all but put the Tigers away. The Zebras kicked five goals to Werribee’s one in the penultimate period, with Shannon Motlop blowing the game open in time-on to kick two goals in a minute. The Zebras took a commanding 66-37 lead into the final term with one hand on the cup.

The Tigers would give the Zebras one final scare though, kicking six goals in the final quarter to trail by just nine, led by Podsiadly. But the Zebras managed to keep them at arms’ length, not allowing them to get any closer from there. To the relief of all Sandringham fans, the siren would finally sound, confirming the Zebras’ victory, 83-74.

The Tigers, seeking Premiership number two, had fallen just short. But with everything Sandringham had been through to get to that point, the Zebras were never going to be denied.

Mid-season recruit Ezra Poyas, Andy Biddlecombe and Sean O’Keeffe all put forward tremendous performances against the Tigers. Meanwhile, Melbourne-listed players Matthew Warnock, Shannon Motlop, and Daniel Ward all showed their AFL credentials on the VFL’s biggest stage. Ward, the incoming Senior Coach of the Zebras two decades later, was awarded the Norm Goss Medal, voted the best afield.

The Grand Final triumph of 2005 for the Zebras was unique to most other Premierships in the history of the sport. It was one done on heavy hearts, the red armbands they wore in honour of their fallen mate Troy Broadbridge, was a tragic, yet touching reminder of that.

Coach Williams dedicated the win to Broadbridge after the game, saying “I just want everyone to know we remember him and we really miss him.”

Through the emotion and turbulence of the season, the Zebras had finally managed to break their back-to-back hoodoo to clinch Premiership number nine. Amidst the celebrations though, one question must’ve been in the forefront of the minds of Williams, the players and the club more broadly; why stop at just two in a row?

Written by Jake Beddard - Sandringham FC