FOOTBALL
GIPPSLAND LEAGUE
By LIAM DURKIN
MAYBE global warming does exist*.
Grounds were bathed in glorious winter sunshine at the weekend, as the Gippsland League entered the second half of the season.
Combatants faced each other for the second time this season (just at opposite venues), with the Round 10 fixture mirroring what was seen in Round 1.
Just a fortnight after five teams were on the same number of points, the ladder now shows a clear gap near the top.
So much so, it would not be too controversial to say the premiership race is down to three teams: Moe, Traralgon and Leongatha.
Away from the on-field tension, the Gippsland League united for Orange Round at the weekend.
Footballers and netballers across the league wore orange armbands in solidarity against family violence, and promoting gender equality in sports.
*This is just tongue-in-cheek, before anyone loses their mind.
Traralgon 11.10 (76) def Leongatha 11.7 (73)
OF all the ways to win a game.
It is doubtful anyone in their right mind would have predicted Traralgon centre half-forward, Dylan Loprese would kick a left foot snap on the run deep in red time to see the Maroons to a gutsy victory.
Traralgon pulled off the great escape (fairly common for any team coached by Troy Hamilton) in Grand Final rematch Take #2, holding off Leongatha by just three points, 11.10 (76) to 11.7 (73).
In a gung-ho game that saw countless momentum swings and lucky breaks at Parrot Park, the headline act for Round 10 of the Gippsland League certainly lived up to the hype.
Traralgon dominated play early, getting their running game up and going in conditions tailor made for such.
Loprese, the club veteran and former senior captain, stamped his authority within the first three minutes, taking a strong contested grab against three opponents, and kicking truly from a 45 degree angle at the entrance end.
Fellow playing-assistant coach, Jackson McMahon was also busy, kicking two goals in the opening term.
McMahon has been a recent revelation after being moved from defence to attack in recent weeks, with his pace causing opposition defenders headaches.
Traralgon’s asserted control by taking 17 marks in the first seven minutes, opting to play a high possession style, keeping the ball alive but with an equal amount of control.
The Maroons’ foot skills were at elite levels early, highlighted by Connor Little finding Luis D’Angelo with a deft touch while being tackled, Cooper Brown slicing an inboard bullet around the corner, and Jordan Cunico snapping off one step as frontal pressure arrived to get the ball out wide to Tate Marsh.
Leongatha however wrestled back momentum, and had eight consecutive inside 50s as quarter time approached.
One of these 50s was due to the Traralgon runner being penalised for interfering with play.
Scores were level at the first change, after the Parrots kicked three goals from set shots, including back-to-back efforts from Justin Pellicano.
Pellicano threatened to take the game away from Traralgon at the start of the second, after kicking his third goal from long range just three minutes in.
The big man was evidently ‘pumped’, and could be seen high-fiving teammates around the ground over the next few minutes at various contests.
His eagerness however boiled over in inexplicable fashion, and he was given his marching orders at the 15 minute mark after allegedly giving Connor Little one to the face.
Leongatha had dominated up until that point, yet the red card (greeted by a few audible bronx cheers) gave the Maroons both a numerical advantage and a chance to reset.
“That is a game-changer,” TRFM’s Rob Popplestone said on commentary.
Traralgon had been under seize, and facing an 18 point deficit at the 13 minute mark following goals to Leongatha key forward Patrick Ireland and the long sleeve-wearing Ty
Hall, who found himself unguarded 30 metres out straight in front.
Hall’s major made it five in a row for the Parrots, and forced Traralgon to ring some changes.
McMahon went into the midfield, while Maroons skipper and usual centre half back Tye Hourigan was sent forward.
His presence had immediate effect, taking a few timely pack marks (including an insane juggling grab from three deep) and kicking his side’s only goal for the term.
“How many times do Traralgon have to rely on this move?” Popplestone quipped.
Hourigan then went into the midfield, and saw the Maroons get the ball inside 50 again.
Despite Leongatha’s dominance, the Parrots lead was only 10 points at the main break, after Traralgon got some good looks going forward during red time.
The Maroons were denied what would have been a crucial goal, after an errant Leongatha handball bobbled inside 50, only to be touched on the line by Levi Hickey.
Tristen Waack stood up in the absence of Hourigan in defence, taking three intercept marks for the quarter.
Traralgon had a dream start to the third quarter, kicking the first two goals.
A strong pack mark to Matt Northe was followed by a snap just two minutes in, while
McMahon’s third gave the Maroons the lead at the six minute mark.
McMahon’s blistering pace was on full display, as was his desperation in close, with his third coming after he nabbed Jarrod Stewart holding the ball, who was relayed pressure from Beau Grabham Andrews dropping a mark.
A dropped mark at the other end of the ground from Ireland gave the Maroons a huge let off after he was clear goal side, as did a professional free kick by Kim Drew drawing high contact from Luis D’Angelo.
In one of the stranger sights, D’Angelo manned the mark standing sideways. His ploy may have worked in putting Drew off, as his kick faded to the far side.
Leongatha however took back the lead, primarily through Jake Hume.
His strong mark and resultant goal from directly in front at the 13 minute mark was followed up with a courageous mark going back with the flight at centre half-back a short time later.
Hume kicked another goal at the 23 minute mark after a horrendous turnover at centre half-back saw the ball rebound inside the Parrots’ 50.
Pinpoint accuracy was required from Hume deep in the forward pocket underneath the commentary position, and his kick went straight through the middle, giving Leongatha a 15 point lead, which felt like much more.
Some excellent quick hands from Parrots midfielder Luke Bowman released Drew, who drove the ball in long, where two Traralgon players collided, leaving Zavier Lamers goal side on his own.
He snapped the ball to Hall straight in front, who kicked his second.
The Parrots were soon two men down however, after Hayden Lindsay went into the rooms with suspected broken ribs.
Lindsay was crunched in a marking contest with a teammate and Loprese at half-forward, stopping play for a few minutes.
He was helped from the ground by trainers of both clubs, the incident coincidently taking place not far from a similar yet less harmful knock in the opening quarter.
Loprese got one back for the visitors after sending the ball out wide to Cunico, who in turn kicked it high to the goal square and back to Loprese.
The margin was nine points after that, but Leongatha extended again after a bizarre sequence of events.
A clear mark to Leongatha ruckman Ben Willis in front of Hourigan was not paid, instead seeing a ball up called deep into red time.
The mark would have given the Parrots a set shot well within range.
Willis was given another crack however, taking a contested grab at half-forward and hitting up Ireland.
While he missed, his contemporary in Stewart made no mistake after a panicked kick out of congestion from Traralgon saw the ball land in his arms.
Stewart’s conversion led to the home side taking a 16 point lead at the final change.
Perhaps most alarmingly for the Maroons, Leongatha took nine marks inside 50 during the third term alone.
Desperately needing the first goal of the last, Traralgon surged the ball forward after McMahon nabbed Hume and found Loprese in the goal square through a series of manic handballs just two minutes in.
The Maroons could have taken the lead a short time later, yet veteran forward Dan McKenna missed from point-blank range after working his opponent under the ball.
It was certainly not the only heart-in-mouth moment during a frantic final term, which saw Grabham-Andrews and Stewart both go down with cramp.
The Maroons made it a three-point ballgame after D’Angelo was taken high just inside 50.
Ever-alert, he handballed off to Hourigan, who nailed the goal.
A new game was suddenly emerging, with Traralgon having all the play in the first seven minutes, and Leongatha not scoring until 10 minutes in.
The Parrots missed a few opportunities following some strong passages, keeping the margin in single digits.
“It’s going to come down to the wire,” commentator Daryl Couling predicted at the 13 minute mark.
Traralgon debutant Levi Macumber, up from the thirds, stepped up at a crucial stage, sending the ball forward into an open 50.
There, McMahon again gave Traralgon the lead, putting the after burners on inside 50 to run in and kick his fourth at the 16 minute mark.
He very nearly extended the lead further, but managed a handy point nonetheless with a dribbling effort from the boundary.
Traralgon’s fitness was starting to show, as the Maroons appeared to be running over the top of Leongatha, who were admittedly down to zero rotations.
The Parrots looked well and truly out on their feet by the 20 minute mark, yet as he had done so often during the game, Hume again made an impact.
His set shot from deep in the forward pocket as the clock ticked into red time was marked by Waack on the goal line, adding another critical save to his tally.
Leongatha wasn’t done with yet however, and a goalmouth scramble saw Lamers emerge with the ball to break away and get the Parrots back in front by four points at the 22 minute mark.
Needing something special, the Maroons found it. Firstly in Liam Willaton, who showcased his little-known gymnastics background to dance around a few opponents on the wing, before the ball was sent deep into attack.
A huge pack of players flew, and the ball, somehow, bobbled to Loprese’s left hand side.
Without thinking, he threw it on the boot from 35m out, and the ball held true the entire journey.
Hourigan was underneath the trajectory, and let out both arms in celebration as the ball went through for a goal and put Traralgon ahead once again.
It was the third lead change in nine minutes.
The Maroons then sent two players back in defence to try and kill the game.
Loprese had another chance to goal from underneath the commentary box, but just missed from long range at the 28 minute mark following another timely grab.
Leongatha had no choice now but to go hell-for-leather from the kick out.
They did so, and thought they had a free kick when Drew appeared to be taken high only 15m out from goal.
Alas, a ball up was called, and the siren went a short time later, making for one of the games of the season.
Waack was best for the winners, while Loprese’s four goals were highly commended.
Hourigan did what he usually does, marking everything, while Mitch Membrey, Cunico and Little contributed significantly.
Hume was easily Leongatha’s best, while Drew, Aaron Heppell, Sam Forrester, Jay Walker and Travis Nash gave their all.
Despite the result, Leongatha’s challengers will surely be on notice given the Parrots were without five genuine stars in Tom Marriott, Cade Maskell, Tallin Brill, Jenson Garnham and Sean Weataway for this game.
For the Maroons, they may see it as a leveller for the loss against Wonthaggi, a game they had every chance to win in similar circumstances.
It is now all beautifully set up: Traralgon versus Moe, third versus first, at Terry Hunter Oval this Saturday.
Morwell 13.10 (88) def Drouin 8.8 (56)
A HOME game that was located closer for the visitors.
Drouin’s magical mystery tour took them to Terry Hunter Oval, where a somewhat mundane contest played out against Morwell.
The Tigers won as expected, and as they needed, 13.10 (88) to 8.8 (56).
The technical visitors broke away as the game went on, but had to shake off a persistent Hawks outfit.
Drouin virtually matched Morwell for goals in the second half, kicking seven to eight.
The Tigers however always had something of a buffer, helped by the efforts of Brandon Mcauliffe, Sam Walsh (three goals), Blake Couling, Anthony Rosato, Cody Macdonald and Aidan Quigley.
The Hawks shared the love with eight individual goal-kickers, although those to get a mention in the top six best players were: Ben Tranfield, William Young, Kye Quirk, Aden Quirk, Denver Lund and Max Williams.
Drouin is more than halfway there getting back to its home ground.
Morwell meanwhile took its ledger to an equal five-wins, five-losses, keeping the five theme going by maintaining equal-fifth on the ladder for now.
Much rides on the result of this weekend’s clash however against Warragul, who are on the same number of points.
Dare we say it yet again for Morwell – elimination final in June.
Moe 20.14 (134) def Bairnsdale 8.11 (59)
MOE gave coach Leigh Poholke a win for his birthday.
The Lions maintained top spot on the Gippsland League ladder after accounting for Bairnsdale 20.14 (134) to 8.11 (59) in Round 10.
While the margin was comprehensive, the game itself was hardly one for the highlight reel.
The sheer discrepancy in class was virtually the difference in an error-ridden game at Ted Summerton Reserve.
Bairnsdale battled hard, but made a number of bewildering skill errors under seemingly no pressure which the Lions duly capitalised on.
If the sight of a Bairnsdale player nearly dropping the ball when receiving a handpass from little more than a metre away wasn’t indication enough, the Redlegs were clearly well off their game.
Moe was not let off the hook either, and despite leading by more than 10 goals at three quarter time, Poholke sensed the team was playing as if they were “bored of winning”.
“Good footy sides are ruthless,” he said during his final address, urging the team to bury the opposition further with greater attention to detail.
The Lions had a few highlights to celebrate in the last quarter, namely defender Aaron Paxton drifting forward to kick his first goal for the club.
The assistant coach had hobbled to the bench moments before, but was told to rest forward.
Any such injury was quickly forgotten when he went back and slotted a neat set shot from 45 metres out, joining youngster Keller Holmes who also kicked his first goal in senior colours.
Undoubtedly the best goal however came from Harry Pepper in the second term.
With the Can Bar behind him, the mercurial player kicked a set shot banana from a tight angle that went straight through the middle.
If that was goal of the day, Lions midfielder Alex Dijkstra took mark of the day, after getting a ride on the clubhouse side wing and cradling the ball in his right arm on the way down.
Pepper’s four goals saw him named best-on-ground, and awarded the inaugural Moe Racing Club Cup medal. The racing club initiated the cup between Moe and Bairnsdale given its presence and support of both clubs (Moe Racing Club operates Club Eastwood in Bairnsdale).
Bairnsdale and Moe also recently hosted FightMND days, adding another connection to their long-distance relationship.
Myles Poholke, Trent Baldi, Scott van Dyk, Dijkstra and Chris Prowse were all prominent for the winners.
Tyran Rees, Will Mitchell, Ricky Tatnell, Ryan Cullinan, Lachlan Byrne-Jones and Charlie Cook got the votes for the Redlegs.
Bairnsdale thirds player Max Neate kicked a very neat running goal in the last term toward the scoreboard, curling one in on his left.
Moe however just had too many answers, even after a somewhat challenging week saw illness spread through the playing group.
Poholke was unable to take training on the Tuesday, and reported being that sick he couldn’t eat for close to 100 hours. Around half-a-dozen players also called in crook during the week, while league leading goal-kicker Ben Crocker and key defender Declan Keilty did not get up for the game.
With the 50 all to himself, Poholke kicked four goals, as did his younger brother Myles.
The brothers could surely not believe their luck at the way in which some of the goals came about, especially when two Bairnsdale players flew for the same ball in the goal square, leaving Leigh to accept the easiest of gifts.
The coach (and the entire Moe squad for that matter) however will know full well Traralgon will offer no such reprieves this weekend.
The Lions go into the clash with eight consecutive wins under their belt, and are looking very healthy across the board.
Moe’s seniors are first, reserves second, thirds one win off first, and fourths third. In netball, the Lions are undefeated in A Grade and top-three in B Grade.
While there is little time to rest on any laurels, hopefully those behind the scenes are sitting back and nodding with pleasure at what is surely a benchmark of whole-club consistency anywhere in the state.
The weekend to come presents something of a full circle moment.
This round last year, Moe’s seniors lost to a third-string Sale team, while the reserves lost to a team that was literally dragged out from the pub.
If anyone had of said to me a year ago Moe’s twos would be playing for top spot this weekend, I would have told you to seek medical advice.
Warragul 14.15 (99) def Wonthaggi 5.10 (40)
DID Warragul just make finals for the first time in almost a decade?
The Gulls took a huge step to achieving that dream, after comprehensively rolling Wonthaggi by 59 points at Western Park.
The 14.15 (99) to 5.10 (40) demolition made it two from two for Warragul against Wonthaggi this season, and leaves the Powers’ season precariously placed.
While Wonthaggi are still fourth, they have lost their last three and are (unbelievably) in danger of missing finals.
Unlike their one-point victory earlier in the season, there was no suggestion Warragul fluked it this time around.
The Gulls put up 4.5 (29) to 1.2 (8) in the first term, and went on their merry way from there.
Wonthaggi had something of a sniff at three quarter time, down by five goals, before Warragul blitzed them with six goals to one in the last.
Jordan Stewart kicked four goals in the win, while the ever-reliable trio of Sean Masterson, Tom Hobbs and Sam Whibley were busy. Riley Senini and Tom Stern also played well.
Kyle Yann, Noah Anderson, Hunter Tiziani, Ethan Dickison, Ryan Sparkes and Brodie Mabilia fought admirably on a dirty day for the visitors.
Wonthaggi find themselves in a similar position to this time last year, where wins are suddenly at an absolute premium.
The difference this time however is that Jack Blair, Aiden Lindsay, Isaac Chugg and Fergus O’Connor won’t all be available.
Power coach Jarryd Blair dived into his Collingwood contacts last year to get Nathan Brown to play a few games.
Does he have any other numbers he can call?
If he does, he’ll have to get them into the side before clearances close this weekend.
Maffra 21.11 (137) def Sale 8.8 (56)
ROBO’S husky tones work wonders sometimes.
Whatever Maffra coach, Anthony Robbins said to his charges at the weekend did not fall on deaf ears, after the Eagles totally obliterated Sale by 81 points.
The win kept the ‘Battle of the Birds’ title with Maffra, and at the same time, sent further alarm bells off in the Magpies nest.
Put simply, Sale needs players, and they needed them yesterday.
Among the outs at the weekend was: Shannen Lange, Ashton Wright, Jack McLaren, Lachie Ronchi and Jarrod Freeman.
More philosophically, the Magpies’ 2026 season has probably already started.
Maffra put the game to rest early, piling on seven goals to one in the opening term.
The procession followed from there, with goals coming at a regular rate on the Maffra home ground.
Caleb Calwyn filled his boots with five majors, while Brayden Monk (four), Jack McQuillen and Harper Walker did likewise.
Monk and McQuillen were among the best, as was Jett Killoran, Noah Christy and Archer Watt.
Cooper Whitehill, Thomas Glenn, Tom Wrigglesworth, Will Leslie, Harry Ronchi and Jack Leslie were admirable in defeat for Sale.
The Eagles remain an outside chance of making finals, and are just one game away from the top five. That being said, Maffra has made it very clear it wants to build for long-term success, and has already doubled its number of wins from last year.
Conversely, Sale finds itself going in the opposite direction.
After making finals every season for the last five years, including the 2022 Grand Final, the footy cycle has come around, and the Magpies may well end this season in the bottom three.
Not that this is something which brings much joy to even their fiercest rival.
As one Maffra official quipped “We need them (Sale) strong for the sake of the eastern end of the league.”
