LIAM DURKIN
FOOTBALL
GIPPSLAND LEAGUE
By LIAM DURKIN
TRARALGON was presented with a good surface at Ted Summerton Reserve on Saturday.
The Maroons won the toss and had no hesitation electing to bat first, as they looked to post a decent total.
Brett Eddy was a strong presence at the crease, and struck the ball cleanly all day, clearing the fence on a number of occasions.
Sorry, wrong sport.
It was hot enough to play cricket on Saturday though.
And Brett Eddy did clear the fence on a number of occasions, on the way to kicking six goals in the Maroons 13.12 (90) to 11.9 (75) victory over Moe.
The match of the round lived up to expectation, as spectators were treated to the classic “good game of footy”.
A classic looked far from happening in the second quarter, as Traralgon took ascendency with a six-goal to one effort to lead by 26 points at the main break.
The Maroons’ running game was up and running, and at times it appeared Moe couldn’t lay a hand on them.
The Lions were already down a key defender after Brock Smith suffered concussion early in the piece.
On-lookers had no reason to feel anything out of the ordinary was happening midway through the third, as the Maroons held a 31-point lead and were pretty much playing in cruise control.
A goal to Moe vice captain Harri Sim for high contact at the 16-minute mark gave teammates something to cheer about. Little was anyone to know it would ignite a huge momentum shift that saw the ball camped in the Lions’ end of the ground for the next 10 minutes.
Ben Daniher goaled shortly after amid some controversy, with Traralgon players adamant the midfielder grabbed the ball out of the ruck without nominating.
Calls from Maroon players of “He can’t do that!” did not please the controlling umpire, who awarded a free kick to Moe in the centre of the ground for dissent.
Traralgon was able to settle, with Sam Hallyburton providing one for the highlight reel after taking a one-handed grab at half-forward.
Hallyburton was the beneficiary of a Moe kick across goal gone horrendously wrong, but another goal to Sim shorty after cut the margin back to just two goals at the final change.
It was the second week in a row Sim had kicked a goal deep into red-time heading into the last change – this one coming from a snap off one step after the ball had bobbled around a pack 30 metres out.
Although the Lions were well in the game, it was clear they were out on their feet.
Sensing this, Moe coach Declan Keilty urged his charges to dig deep.
Having been stranded on 199 goals for a number of weeks, Lions midfielder James Blaser kicked his 200th at the best possible time, less than two minutes into the final term, getting out the back to dribble one through.
But then there was Eddy.
While Traralgon coach Jake Best had previously said the Maroons are “not worried about him kicking big bags”, they wouldn’t have been upset by his effort on Saturday all the same.
Eddy took two strong marks at the start of the last quarter, and kicked truly with his second shot from right on 50. The ball did not even look like missing after it left his boot.
The former Port Adelaide player was simply too classy for country defenders, and while Moe had former AFL defenders of their own in Keilty and Smith, one had to play up the ground on Maroons skipper Dylan Loprese, and the other was unable to take the field.
At times it appeared Eddy literally only had 30 centimetres on his opponent, and that is all he needed to take an overhead mark.
With the margin hovering around 10 points, players scrambled madly to help their side. Traralgon’s Harvey Neocleous was so caught up in trying to score he even collided with the goalpost.
Another goal to Blaser six minutes in at the Can Bar end made it a seven point ball game. The Can Bar may well have influenced a decision a short time later, as veteran umpire Steve ‘Budgie’ Buhagiar paid a deliberate out of bounds in Moe’s favour.
Who says they never pay deliberate in country footy.
Some outstanding work from Keilty stopped a certain offensive chain when he outmarked Loprese, much to the Maroons skipper’s disgust, while Jaryn Makepeace, in his first senior game for the season, got the ball into Moe’s forward line with anmesmerising one-handed pick-up.
Traralgon midfielder Tom Schneider showed a cool head to slot a goal from a slight angle after being taken high, while that man again, Eddy, had another say, kicking truly at the 16 minute mark to extend the Maroons lead to 19 points.
Moe responded with another goal to Sim, having to finish what should have been completed the kick before, meaning the Lions almost made a complete meal out of what looked to be an easy goal.
General play unfolded as the clock ticked over the 20 minute mark, before an exceptional tackle from Traralgon’s Lucas Tripodi handed the ball back to the Maroons in the middle of the ground.
Keilty however just kept finding ways, with his Inspector Gadget arms nailing consecutive smothers on Louis D’Angelo and Connor Ambler. Moe’s Harry Pepper was awarded a free kick at the 26 minute mark, and the resultant goal got the margin back to eight points.
While there was still time, the response from the Lions players indicated they had left their run too late.
By now, they had to risk losing the game by four goals trying to win it by four points.
Time eventually beat all comers. A goal to Traralgon’s Harvey Howe right on the siren, sealing the final score for the Maroons.
Most watching the game would have agreed Eddy and Sim were the two standouts, not just for either team, but for the game itself. When the league votes are read out, those names will surely be three and two.
Connor Little did a good job for Traralgon, as did Schneider, Mark Collison, Neocleous and Dan McKenna, back after a very long time away from the game.
Scott Van Dyk was listed in the best in his 99th senior game for Moe, along with James Blaser in his 185th and Tyson Biffin in his 108th.
Grady Cocksedge played well, as did youngster Jacob Balfour, who showed exceptional courage at times going back with the flight.
The Lions wore black armbands for the late John Mete at the weekend. ‘Metey’ played for the club in the 1950’s/60’s and served on the committee for a number of years.
His widow Jean was there on Saturday, and understood to be moved by the gesture.
Winning Traralgon coach Jake Best described the match as a good contest.
“We’ve been tested every game the last few weeks, Moe being 5-0, it was good to see where we’re at, it was a really good hit out,” he said.
“We were happy with our first half, felt like we had it on our terms, but we knew Moe were going to come back at us, they are a quality side and they did exactly that.”
Looking at what changed momentum in the third quarter, Best felt there was a few factors involved.
“I think with the wind, we played it a bit safe in the third quarter, wind down one end we probably went away from our style and just wanted to get through that quarter and get the wind in the last quarter so that hurt us a bit,” he said.
“At three quarter time the message was to just be brave, play our style, play our system, it should hold us in good stead, we didn’t really want to change too much apart from being a bit more aggressive.
“The pleasing thing was we didn’t panic, previous years we might have lost that tight game, it was good we showed that maturity. True credit to Moe, they didn’t roll over at all, they could have won that game, no dramas.”
Best said the Maroons would look to recuperate with the week off.
“We’re looking forward to the bye, we’ve got a fair few guys that will come back after the bye, it’s good for them to have that extra week,” he said.
“We’ve still got a lot to work on, we don’t feel like we are playing at our very best (so) training as normal.”
Away from the result, Traralgon and Moe again played for the Riley ‘Choppy’ Pearce Cup.
Through tragedy has come a fortified bond between the Maroons and Lions, who are set to play an annual match in the name of mental health for generations to come in memory of a young man taken far too soon.
THEY do say timing is everything.
As if playing Leongatha wasn’t going to be hard enough – try doing it without your playing-coach or marquee centre half forward.
That was the unfortunate reality that greeted Morwell on Saturday, as the Tigers took on the might of Leongatha.
As expected, the Parrots won the match 11.18 (84) to 7.6 (48), although to Morwell’s credit, they weren’t totally disgraced.
The quarter-by-quarter scores indicated the young Tigers, who were without playing coach Boyd Bailey or key position player Adam Braendler, were in the match right up until three quarter time, when they only trailed the league leader by 10 points.
Granted, Leongatha had registered 10 more scoring shots by this stage, but for a fleeting moment at least, a famous upset was on the cards.
It wasn’t to be however, as the Parrots kicked four goals to none in the final term to record their 34th consecutive win.
Some familiar names again made up the best players for the winners in Tom Marriott (three goals), Cade Maskell, Aaron Heppell, Ben Willis and Aaron Turton.
Ryan Hearn, Brandon McDonald (five goals), Tristen Waack, Tyler Brown, Burkeley Macfarlane and Brandon McAuliffe put in commendable efforts for the Tigers.
Morwell players wore special pink guernseys on Saturday, in support of breast cancer research and fundraising.
MAFFRA broke through for its first win of the season.
The Eagles took to Western Park, and held off a determined Warragul to win 8.14 (62) to 6.11 (47).
Not much separated combatants throughout the day, although a two-goal to none third term allowed Maffra to establish a 21-point lead.
The Eagles were then able to maintain a margin somewhere within this vicinity in the last.
Both teams shared three goals in the opening term, although Maffra did have to work its way back after the Gulls had twice as many scoring shots.
Left-footer Ben Brunt led the way for the winners in a best-on-ground performance, followed by Brayden Monk, John Butcher, Tom Thatcher, Alex Carr and Ed Carr.
With the Eagles undergoing a rebuilding phase, coach Anthony Robbins has shown a willingness to play the kids, and he said a win would do wonders for their confidence.
“Much better to win than lose of course, it was nice to get a win, especially down there, not easy down there but we got the job done,” he said.
“Both sides wasted opportunities at different times that put scoreboard pressure on each other. It was a bit of an error-ridden game, however both sides at different times played good footy.”
Warragul found service from Liam Serong, Nick Mulqueen, Liam Sumner, Sam Whibley, Corbin Sutherland and Brad Hefford.
The bye may have come at a good time for the Gulls, as they have a mounting casualty ward.
The unfortunate Warragul squad was so depleted at the weekend, its reserves only had nine registered players and needed five fill-ins to get it up to 14 – the minimum number required to avoid forfeiting.
Injuries in the Gulls’ camp have been compounded by the absence of playing-coach Jed Lamb, who will likely miss the rest of the season.
Lamb suffered a shocking knee injury the week before against Traralgon. It is no exaggeration to say it looked like his left leg was going to snap off. Field umpire Mark Smith reported hearing the ‘pop’ from as far as 10 metres away.
Robbins sent his best wishes to Lamb, seeking him out before the game.
“I went over and said I was very sorry to see him injured, never want anyone injured in that way, especially players bringing excitement to the game like Jed does,” he said.
In a good sign, Lamb has implemented some character building traits with the Warragul team – players were walking around the ground picking up rubbish post-game after the crowd had gone home.
From a Maffra perspective, although the Eagles are currently second-last on the ladder, the next wave of youngsters has the chance to forge their own history.
Maffra still has some quality senior players in Daniel Bedggood, Kade Renooy and Danny Butcher, the likes of which Robbins said were now passing on their knowledge.
“It’s been quite exciting, we’ve had seven debutants, you think about how many wins we’ve had in the last 20 years, it’s a unique time for a lot of us,” he said.
“Those older guys are doing a great job of mixing in and educating those younger players, and I think it’s brought a bit of excitement back for some of them.
“It’s never easy when you are getting beaten easily, but we’re learning all the time, young players are learning and the old ones are working with them, we’re still enjoying what we’re doing.”
SALE got back on the winners list.
The Magpies led from start to finish against Drouin, winning 16.13 (109) to 9.9 (63).
With Drouin having lost most of their games this season by a handful of points, there was some suggestion the Hawks weren’t that far off some of the finals contenders.
Such thoughts may have been extinguished at the weekend after Sale defeated them by 46 points.
The visitors dominated the opening term, putting up 5.8 (38) to 1.1 (7).
Sale added another five goals in the second term, and four in the third to make it a 39-point margin at the final change.
Kane Martin made a welcome return for Sale, and was among the best players with three goals.
Joining the left-footer as his side’s most prominent was Shannen Lange, who also kicked three, while Hudson Holmes and Josh Butcher also played well.
Brothers Daine and Jonty McGuiness continued their strong form from the previous week.
Clayton Kingi kicked four goals for Drouin, and found good support from Kye Quirk, Jordan Kingi, Hugo Birks, Callum Tyler and Jarrod Marshall.
WONTHAGGI made the longest trip in Victorian country football a successful one, after easily accounting for Bairnsdale.
Only 14 points separated the sides at halftime, before the Power put the foot down, scoring 10 goals to one in the second half to win 18.21 (129) to 8.7 (55).