They say form is temporary, but class is permanent.

In round 12 of the Picola District Football League season, former Port Adelaide stars Tom Jonas and Justin Westhoff proved they still have both in abundance, pulling on the boots for reigning premier Katamatite.

Ex-teammates of Tigers co-coach Tom Clurey, 216-game AFL veteran and former Power skipper Jonas was judged best-on-ground, while Westhoff booted nine goals in his first outing in more than a year — only his second appearance since hanging up his boots in 2020.

And in the end, the duo’s influence proved the difference in the preliminary final rematch against Deniliquin Rovers conquering them 19.12 (126) to 9.7 (61) at Katamatite.

“They both played really bloody well,” Clurey said.

“They put on a good show. TJ's played I think four or five games this year back in Adelaide.

“I knew Justin only played the one game last year … on the weekend, that was his second game in five years, which I didn't realise.

“As I said to anyone on the day that asked about the big fella, he's just a natural talent and one of those big guys that’s just naturally freakish.

“Even when he played AFL years ago, he'd always just do freakish stuff for a man of 200cm, and that was his first game in over 12 months.”

The Rovers challenged early, trailing by five points at quarter-time.

But the Tigers responded by keeping Deni scoreless in the second term, pulling away to a 37-point buffer at the main break – one that was never threatened.

Mitch Coleman was equally damaging up forward, finishing with six goals, while Pat Riordan, James Beilby, Wade Demasi and Tom McNeill made their presence felt across the ground as the fourth-placed Tigers improved their record to 8-3.

After a big win, a sportsman’s night starring the retired AFL duo proved the cherry on top of an exciting day at Katty after the club staged a similar event when Steven Motlop lit up the field last year.

“The club was keen to do something similar again,” Clurey said.

“It was a good day on the field and a good day all around for the club.

“It's good to do it for the sponsors and the life members.

“Yes, you want to make money for the club, but it's not all about selling hundreds of tickets.

“l think it's still a really good thing the club has done, wanting to give back to the sponsors, life members and the people that keep the club running.”

Coming off a tight seven-point defeat to Jerilderie the week before, the 65-point win over Deni was a timely one for the injury-hit Tigers in their bid to embed themselves in the league’s top four.

Berrigan currently sits a game behind and awaits Katamatite after the bye and Clurey, himself sidelined with a hamstring issue, said he was pleased with his side’s ability to endure with several troops set to return.

“(Deni) is a team that has improved a lot,” he said.

“It was pleasing to get the win in the end; we lost to Jerilderie the week before, which we didn't really want to drop, but that's footy.

“It was before the Jerilderie game that we had 10 changes going in. Everyone sees the result and they're like ‘oh wow’, but no matter what level you're at, it's always going to make things tough.

“I thought in that game the boys that were on the park battled really, really hard and it was a solid game to watch, actually.”

After last year’s premiership heroics and in his first season as senior coach, Clurey said he’s excited to see what the remaining five home and away rounds can produce, and at this stage it looks like the Tigers are right in contention for back-to-back flags.

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Sunday, 26th October 2031

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