It was a season filled with injuries and the thought of ‘What could have been’ for Seymour, but on Saturday afternoon, the Lions issued a warning to the rest of the competition about how they will return in 2025.
In the final round of Goulburn Valley League, Seymour hosted Mooroopna at Kings Park.
The Cats were fresh off their extraordinary after-the-siren win over ladder-rival Rochester, while the Lions had won only one of their past four games.
Heading into the match, the door was slightly ajar for Mooroopna to move into third place if Rochester dropped its match against Shepparton United.
However, it soon became apparent that the results from other Goulburn Valley League games would be irrelevant for the Cats as the Lions mauled their opposition.
The opening term was action-packed, with 13 goals kicked in total — nine to Seymour and four to Mooroopna.
The Cats started well, kicking three of the first four goals before the tide began to turn as the Lions produced a seven-goal blitz to finish the quarter.
The scoring slowed in the second term, but the Lions still extended their margin to lead 70-33 at the main break.
Young gun key forward Riley Mason was keen to finish the season on a high for Seymour, booting four goals in the first half and four in the second.
Mason’s eight-goal haul boosted him to 65 for the season to finish second in the league goal-kicking behind Kyabram’s Anthony Depasquale, who finished with 72.
If John Lamont was hoping for a more inspired performance in the second half from his Cats, he would have been disappointed.
Seymour came barrelling out of the sheds after half-time, booting 6.3 to 0.4.
Quite soon, the lead jumped to 72 points as the Lions’ forwards plundered the Cats’ defence for goals.
Seymour’s Jack Murphy, Tom Maloney, Lewis Lubeck and Nathan Fowler all booted two goals.
Meanwhile, Nic Quigg, who featured among the best, played his third game for Seymour this season after finishing his VFL duties with GWS the week prior.
The final quarter remained relatively tame, with both sides inaccurate as the match turned into a dead rubber contest.
Seymour kicked 3.4 to Mooroopna’s 1.4, with the Lions eventually winning the match, 20.11 (131) to 6.11 (47).
The result means that Seymour finished the home and away season in ninth place, with six wins from 18 games and the fifth-best percentage in the league — an indicator that it can still compete with the best.
Meanwhile, Mooroopna has once again qualified for finals, although Lamont would be disgruntled with how his players ended the regular season.
The Cats finished the final round in fourth place and will play Kyabram in an elimination final this weekend.