Shane Savage kicked five goals and amassed 28 disposals as Box Hill earned themselves a spot in the Grand Final, thanks to a commanding 52-point win over Werribee.

Michael Osborne was everywhere in the first quarter, racking up 12 disposals to go along with one major. Will Langford also prominent up early, kicking two first quarter goals and amassing five clearances before the first break, really impressing with his work inside.

The veteran’s savvy and leadership didn’t go unnoticed by coach Damian Carroll who praised the efforts of Osborne.

“He’s been terrific and he continues to display hardness at the footy, also the use of his skills is good as well. He’s been delivering for us over the last couple of weeks, in finals in particular,” he said.

It was in the third quarter that Savage brought the crowd to their feet, the midfielder climbed atop the shoulders of his opponent to take a magnificent mark. He followed his mark up with a set shot goal from the boundary line for the first of his four second half goals. 

“Him [Savage] along with Langford and Hallahan in the middle, Simpkin, Oz, they all gave us first use and obviously Sav was able to finish with five goals as well so his work forward was good too,” Carroll said.

“Today for us it was a lot of guys playing their role to get us over the line.” 

Jonathan Simpkin also got involved with what was probably the goal of the day, a snap from congestion tucked up against the boundary line on the wrong side for a right footer, much to the delight of the Box Hill faithful who turned up in droves. 

The win sets up a Grand Final against Geelong, a side they last met in Round 3 and fell agonisingly short at the Cattery when they lost by five points. 

The Cats are considered favourites at this early stage, but underdog status is a tag that Carroll is more than comfortable with. 

“Throughout the course of the season we’ve been labelled that way at various times, but we’ve been able to win eight games in a row, and we were able to string nine earlier in the year,” he said. 

“They’re a fantastic footy team and they deserve to be favourites. On any given day we know we can match it with the best and they are the best, hopefully next week we are able to bring our best performance for long enough to knock them off.” 

Final score
Box Hill 6.5 12.7 16.9 22.12 (144)
Werribee 6.1 9.6 12.6 14.8 (92)

Goals: S. Savage 5, L. Tobin 2, J. Ceglar 2, M. Osborne 2, S. Grimley 2, W. Langford 2, T. O''Brien 2, L. Lowden 2, X. Murphy, B. Retzlaff, J. Simpkin 
Best: S. Savage, W. Langford, M. Osborne, L. Lowden, M. Hallahan, K. Cheney

Hawthorn listed players:
34. Jordan Kelly
Stats: 7 kicks, 8 handballs, 3 marks
Always calm and composed with the ball in hand and was no different in a cutthroat final. Wasn’t as prominent in cutting off opposition entries with intercept marks this week but he still found a way to contribute.

35. Sam Grimley
Stats: 7 disposals, 5 marks, 2 goals
Played as a deep forward for most of the game and did most of his damage in the first half. Despite being quiet, he demands a quality defender who won’t run off him to help and he made the most of his opportunities when he did find the ball.

38. Mitch Hallahan
Stats: 26 disposals, 6 tackles, 7 clearances
Despite copping a tag all game he still found a way to hunt the ball successfully. He works just as hard defensively and he does offensively, and that’s saying something. Used it well when he had it aside from a couple of miscues.

40. Tim O’Brien
Stats: 9 disposals, 3 marks, 2 tackles
Showed a touch of class every time he went near the ball, whether it was a sensational one-handed mark in the goal square or roving the ball from a pack at pace. Once he starts finding the ball a bit more, his decision-making and skill will make him incredibly dangerous.

41. Taylor Duryea
Stats: 22 disposals, 10 marks, 4 tackles
Was impressive in his first game back since the opening round of the season, he slotted right back in as if he never left. His foot skills were on display, slicing the defence apart with his penetrating boot. Played a solid, all-around game.

46. Derick Wanganeen
Stats: 11 kicks, 6 handballs, 5 marks
Found a bit of the ball across the half-back line and used his nous in close to create space and give himself an extra second or two to find the right option.

47. Jonathon Ceglar
Stats: 15 disposals, 34 hitouts, 2 goals
Was excellent all day long, either by providing a dangerous target as a deep forward or competing with Currie around the ground. Had a couple of skill errors but they were far outweighed by the positive impact he had on the game.

61. Angus Litherland
Stats: 7 kicks, 3 handballs, 4 marks
Wasn’t as prominent as previous weeks, although he did still go for a couple of his exciting trademark
runs out of defence to provide a bit of rebound. 

63. Kyle Cheney
Stats: 13 disposals, 6 marks, 3 rebound 50s
Such a reliable defender, if he can’t win a contest he will at least kill it. His teammates must love him because he always knows when the leave his man to be the third man up in a contest and doesn’t get caught out. 

65. Will Langford
Stats: 24 disposals, 12 clearances, 2 goals
Started the game on fire with two early goals and kept his manic attack on the ball up all game long. He easily had the most clearances on the ground, but it was his ability to get the ball outside as well which really highlighted just how complete his game was.

70. Luke Lowden
Stats: 15 disposals, 31 hitouts, 2 goals
Finished the game beautifully, he was huge in the last quarter with the game still in the balance. His ability to sell candy resulted in one goal for himself and then set up another for Osborne within two minutes of one another. Acquitted himself admirably in the ruck and capitalised on any half chances that came his way when playing forward.

71. Shane Savage
Stats: 28 disposals, 7 tackles, 5 goals
Led the team in disposals and goals and was second in inside 50s and tackles – it was a dominant performance from a man playing his first game with the team since mid-June. Was everywhere and doing everything, took big marks, kicked big goals and found the ball across all three lines of the ground. 

72. Jonathan Simpkin
Stats: 20 disposals, 12 inside 50s, 1 goal
When he wasn’t feeding the forwards all day long he was winning the ball in close so someone else could. His goal was the goal of the day, a beauty from the pocket, hemmed in on the wrong side for a right footer.

77. Michael Osborne
Stats: 20 disposals, 5 tackles, 2 goals
He had 12 of his 20 disposals in the first quarter and was really instrumental in getting the team off to a good start. Leads by example with second and third efforts, he oozes leadership and coach Damian Carroll even commented on his role as a leader after the game. Displayed a touch of class with the ball in hand on several occasions too, which resulted in scores for Box Hill.