Shortland crowned sixth Newcastle champions after grand final ramapge seals stellar Season 12 campaign

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Shortland captain James Billingham was named postseason MVP for his efforts against Kotara and Belmont.

Shortland are the Newcastle Dodgeball League Season 12 champions, after a finals rampage saw them clinch the minor premiership and grand final double.
After falling to Belmont by a single point in the Season 11 postseason last time around, the Scotchies had all the more reason to fire up in the decider against the defending champions. After securing their second straight premiership, again with 38 points, many saw Shortland as favourites to take out the championship with their second chance.
They opened their postseason campaign with an 11-6 victory over Jesmond. Elsewhere in the quarter finals, Belmont defeated Raymond Terrace 10-6, while Hamilton recovered from an early 4-2 deficit to edge first-time finalists Bar Beach 9-5. In the last final-eight clash, Kotara edged the higher seed Waratah in a one-set thriller, marching into the semi-finals off the back of the 7-6 win.
In a rematch of the Season 11 decider, Hamilton and Belmont met in the semi-finals. It was the Beavers that came out triumphant in their third ever postseason meeting, 8-5, despite the Stags holding the regular season head-to-head record against their finals rivals. In the other quarter final, Shortland bounced to an early lead before Kotara climbed back into the contest. The damage was done, however, and the Scotchies moved into the decider off the back of their 10-5 victory.
From there, there as no stopping Shortland. Belmont and the eventual champions traded a set each in the opening two rounds, before the Scotchies took hold of the contest with five straight wins.
The 6-1 lead at half-time seemed near unscaleable, until Belmont claimed the first set out of the gates. It was a victory that took the entire four-minute timer on the round, however, and the Beavers had to ramp up the pace if they were to catch the leading Scotchies. In the end, Shortland were able to capitalise on the on-tick of speed in the game, and strung together four more set wins to tick over into double digits. Belmont claimed one final point in the last-round sudden death timeout, but it was Shortland that claimed the trophy with the 10-3 final result.
The win for the Scotchies, which moves them into the annals of history as the sixth ever Newcastle champions, was the equal biggest margin in a final for the league.
The last time a team claimed a victorious margin of seven was when three-time champions ousted Hamilton in their second grand final meeting in 2014. The Wizards defeated the Stags 13-6 in that fast-paced meeting.

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