FOOTBALL
GIPPSLAND LEAGUE
By LIAM DURKIN
The only thing I know is that I know nothing. Socrates
ROUND 12 of the Gippsland League ended up being one for the true believers.
It also showed once again how unpredictable the major league really is, as two top five teams were defeated – one by a previously winless side.
Teams will have a chance to reflect on their various predicaments this weekend, as the league takes its last bye for the season.
On the return (July 19), the fixture will be a straight six-game run to finals.
Morwell 16.15 (111) def Traralgon 13.6 (84)
THERE’S a documentary in these games.
If last year’s draw between Morwell and Traralgon was the greatest home-and-away match between the Latrobe Valley’s biggest rivals, the most recent instalment surely carried the most amount of poignancy.
The Tigers, in front of their home crowd and with their season effectively on the line, won a Sunday blockbuster 16.15 (111) to 13.6 (84) in Round 12 of the Gippsland League.
Among the crowd was the great Brett Stanistreet, the namesake of the Hunter/Stanistreet Cup played for whenever Morwell and Traralgon meet.
Now based in Queensland, it was the first time Stanistreet and Traralgon legend Terry Hunter had been on hand to present the cup bearing their names since 2018.
When a delighted but equally modest Stanistreet (with an ever-gracious Hunter watching on) presented the cup to Morwell playing-coach, Boyd Bailey, it capped off a perfect day for the Tigers, who were also hosting their annual sponsors and past players day.
Like the Tigers of old, Morwell was strong and bold in more ways than one right from the outset.
A bold move by Morwell to run through the Maroons’ warmup sent an early warning shot about whose turf the game was taking place on.
Little was anyone to know what was to follow in the next 30 minutes.
With the Tigers starting the match a game outside the top five and three games off Traralgon in third, what unfolded in the first term was truly extraordinary.
Morwell might have been wearing Tiger jumpers, but could just as well have been in Harlem Globetrotter singlets.
Cohen Campbell scored the first major five minutes in following three consecutive behinds.
And from there, it just blew, the hell, out.
Signs were worrying for Traralgon as early as the 15 minute mark, with the Maroons yet to score and usual intercepting defender Tye Hourigan needing to be sent forward.
The visitors were also forced to throw all their chips into the midfield, moving Jackson McMahon from the front half to try and spark something alongside Luis D’Angelo.
When Josh Galea, in his 50th senior game for the Tigers, absolutely flushed a set shot from just inside 50, the score was 22-nil.
Morwell wasn’t done with yet, and some neat tap work from Isaac Abas to Brandon Mcauliffe saw him kick one on the outside of his boot to extend the margin even further.
But wait, there’s more.
A Brandon McDonald set shot and goal on the eve of quarter time saw the scoreboard read remarkable as teams retreated to their respective huddles: Morwell 5.5 (35) to Traralgon 0.0 (0).
Some days you just can’t put a foot wrong.
Such was the avalanche of scoring at the Princes Highway end, the clock stopped running at the 20 minute mark. The scoreboard attendants presumably so busy updating the goals they didn’t have time to change the timer settings.
Despite the incredible start, Morwell players struck composed figures at the first break.
“Don’t get lazy, have the mindset to be hungry,” Bailey said.
“If we play like that, they will find it hard to score,” he added before reiterating the message to number off on defence and spread hard on offence.
Traralgon Coach, Troy Hamilton took a long time addressing his players, and while lamenting the start, took some solace in the fact there was still three quarters left to make up the deficit.
The Maroons didn’t need that long to get in front – not even one quarter as it turned out.
The Cunico boys, Jordan and Jacob, combined for three goals for the visitors, who chipped away at the margin.
A trademark ‘jump straight up’ grab from Hourigan late in the term and subsequent 50 metre penalty took him to the goal square and made it a one-point ballgame.
The tables were turned not long after however, following a 50m penalty that took Bailey to point blank range right on halftime.
Former Morwell player, Tristen Waack, now with Traralgon, received a significant amount of advice after gifting Bailey the easiest of chances to hand the Tigers a seven-point lead at the long break.
Discipline played a key factor in a number of outcomes throughout the game, typical of Morwell/Traralgon clashes where the form guide is often discarded.
Traralgon started brightly upon the resumption, highlighted by a searing left foot pass from Jacob Cunico across his body, which found Hourigan who goaled to return the game to parity.
With the scoreboard however reading 6.8 (44) to 7.2 (44), there was a sense Morwell would come to rue some missed opportunities.
Galea made the most of his underneath the scoreboard, kicking a banana from a set shot, while at the other end, a timely fist from Max Linton prevented Hourigan taking a grab at centre half forward.
The resultant spill saw the ball travel toward Morwell’s goal face, where Abas was awarded a free kick for a hold, and duly converted one of his three for the day.
Another 50m penalty (in a game that saw an unusually high amount, although perhaps understandable given the rivalry) took McMahon within range, and the Traralgon playing-assistant converted.
The Maroons appeared to be finally up and running by the 15 minute mark, with their press working to ensure Morwell had no targets deep.
This led to Hourigan taking a grab inside 50 after a rebounding play, and his goal from deep in the pocket near the entrance of the ground again levelled the scores at the 18 minute mark.
Surely not another draw between these two.
Morwell however found a quick reply through Abas out the back, and could have gone further ahead had the post not got in the way of an opportunistic Cody Macdonald check side.
The Tigers did however have a huge let off after a horrendous turnover inside defensive 50 saw the ball kicked straight to Blair Roscoe, who squared to Waack, only for him to miss.
An insane goal from D’Angelo out of congestion snapping from some distance again tied the game at the 28 minute mark.
Both teams were looking to play a similar style, moving the ball fast by foot, yet on the scoreboard at least, the Maroons had the better of their opponents in a goal-for-goal term, kicking five goals to three to take a slender six point lead at the last change.
With everything to play for, Bailey implored his players to “back yourself in”, while Hamilton said “hang on for dear life” when going into tackle.
Bullocking Morwell midfielder, Anthony Rosato very nearly gave his side a dream start in the last, after shrugging off a tackle and kicking off one step from right up against the boundary inside the first minute.
The kick was on target, but fell short, yet he was to more than make the most of his next chance.
Who else but Hourigan however to get Traralgon away just three minutes in. Rolling the dice and sitting back inside 50, the Maroons skipper found himself with acres of space to run in and accept a long ball that bounced awkwardly in the goal square, before he had the presence of mind to soccer it through in mid-air.
Another 50m penalty however gave McDonald a goal two minutes later at the other end.
The Tigers threw Linton forward in the last quarter, and he certainly came to the fore, kicking two goals and having a hand in others.
The defining moment came after he pulled in a huge pack mark, played on, sent a long ball inside 50, and saw Abas goal to give Morwell a one point lead at the 11 minute mark.
By now the game was at fever pitch, and the crowd in full voice.
At least half the crowd soon became quieter when Rosato kicked a running goal from 45 metres out, and McDonald leaped high in celebration in front of the Morwell faithful after dobbing a clutch set shot from a tight angle.
The Morwell player who’d earlier turned the ball straight over to Roscoe redeemed himself with a poised handball to Bailey deep in defence, when many others would have simply thrown it on the boot.
This composure was exemplified at the 17 minute mark when Zac Anderson found McDonald alone in the pocket, smartly checking his kick to find the Tiger’s leading goal scorer.
Morwell maintained pressure of different kinds, so much so a Traralgon player with plenty of space was unable to cleanly pick up a seemingly basic ground ball. Adding insult to injury, the ball ricocheted off his shin and over the boundary in front of the Traralgon bench.
Linton kicked consecutive goals as the clock ticked past 20 minutes (the timer working by now), the first coming after some fancy footwork from Abas.
20 points down at the 22 minute mark, the Maroons went for one last miracle, putting Waack, McMahon and D’Angelo on ball.
Great courage by Jackson Burr however going back with the flight denied Hourigan the chance to mark, and ended with the ball in the Tigers’ goal square, where Linton took the raffled off goal.
By now it was game over, and Galea ignited further celebrations after snapping truly from a set shot in front of the deck at the 26 minute mark.
Morwell dismantled Traralgon in a bookended performance, kicking seven goals to two in the final term, to go with the five to none in the first.
The result could yet have huge finals implications, after Drouin’s unexpected win over fourth-placed Wonthaggi means there is now just a game between fourth and sixth.
The previously winless Hawks might be getting a Christmas card from Morwell (in sixth) if the Tigers happen to make finals.
Galea’s three goals and numerous assists saw him named in the best, along with Sam Walsh, Anderson, Stephen Mills, Dan Musil and Bailey.
If the sight of Musil cleaning his boots post-game and sporting holes in both socks was any indication, this was every bit a workmanlike victory.
On a day when Morwell legends were assembled, the man whose name adorns the grandstand, Stan Morgan, was also surely looking down with pride as players walked off.
Bailey, who is now the only coach in the league along with Wonthaggi’s Jarryd Blair to defeat the league’s two reigning premiership coaches, said there was plenty of positives to takeaway.
“Hopefully the boys have learnt what they are capable of, for us we just need to get that consistency within our game,” he said.
“Ideally that’s the benchmark and we keep playing really, really well.
“The best thing for our boys was, previously we may not have got the result, we were able to come back and win.”
On the first quarter blitz, Bailey himself was somewhat lost for words given the side was coming off a subpar performance against Warragul.
“You ask for a response and the boys dish up that, which was pleasing,” he said.
“When we are at our best we are moving the ball like that, and when we are not we are probably just doing those line kicks that we don’t get that pace on the ball.
“When you’ve got pace on the footy it’s hard to defend, once again, it’s just consistently doing that.
“The Warragul game was a poor performance, we were just looking for a rebound with effort and intensity around the ball. We were able to do that.”
When asked if the fallout from the Drouin/Wonthaggi game had an impact, the coach acknowledged it was hard to avoid.
“I don’t think it changed the mindset, I do think, looking at the result, you go ‘that’s obviously really good for us’,” he said.
“All the boys knew that result and, you drop today, you’re running out of time to make finals.”
Bailey’s players repaid the faith he showed in them at the weekend, especially young Maclan McInnes, who was given the task on Hourigan.
“Whether Tye was forward or back it was a simple role, and that was to minimise his impact,” Bailey said.
“I think he did a pretty good job. He’s been a good inclusion, wins his one on ones.”
With life suddenly injected into Morwell’s season, the Tigers will know precisely what their finals chances look like in the fortnight after the bye.
Morwell plays Wonthaggi and Leongatha in consecutive weeks. A tough enough assignment in usual circumstances, even harder when they are back-to-back road trips.
“One week at a time, gotta get that win against Wonny first, and we’ll look toward Leongatha,” Bailey said.
Morwell had yesterday (Tuesday) off the training track, with Bailey confirming normal training would resume post-bye heading into the match against the Power.
As the finals carrot still dangles, the Tigers will surely be monitored closely by a number of teams.
Morwell needs to get there first, but if they do, and play as well as they did last Sunday – look out.
The Tigers know just the right person to film the doco as well.
Moe 16.15 (111) def Maffra 8.12 (60)
IT is not often a 51-point win is tinged with negatives.
That’s exactly what happened after Moe defeated Maffra in Round 12 of the Gippsland League however.
While the Lions won 16.15 (111) to 8.12 (60), the visitors left town with much to ponder after two more players were added to the club’s mounting casualty ward.
Heavy rain throughout the Maffra region during the week reduced the oval to a mudpit.
That the match was played in perfect weather and saw more than 50 scoring shots offered a major juxtaposition, but as Maffra Football-Netball Club senior official, Paul Bourke rightly stated in his halftime luncheon address, the most important part was the fact “we’ve got games going”.
The Eagles did not train on their home ground last Thursday, instead forced indoors to the local high school.
Moe kicked five goals to two in the first term, and held most of the ascendancy from there mainly through weight of experience.
Maffra played usual key forward Daniel Bedggood as an extra behind the ball as early as the second quarter, but this didn’t stop Lions playing-coach Leigh Poholke and league leading goal-kicker, Ben Crocker still kicking five goals each.
Class was on show in various forms, mostly from Crocker, whose goals included snap and banana finishes, while Poholke visibly encouraged young Maffra defender Jonathan Boyd, who had the daunting task of playing on someone nearly twice his age.
Eagles captain, Danny Butcher also displayed great leadership at the halftime siren, running to a crowd of young and vocal Maffra supporters who had engaged in a few verbal barbs with Poholke behind the goals. Butcher told the contingent in no uncertain terms they needed to pull their heads in.
Maffra fought gamely in the second half, and took 12 marks inside the first five minutes of the third quarter.
Moe conceded four red time goals either side of the main interval, and with the margin 35 points at the last change, Poholke put an emphasis on the first five minutes of the last quarter.
“Now they have hope,” he said, lamenting the red time lapses when speaking to his charges at the three quarter time huddle.
“We did not come all this way to play on this mud heap to not come away with the four points.”
Kicking against what was felt to be the “downhill” end of the ground toward the netball courts, Moe finished the game as they’d started, with five goals to two in the final quarter.
Both teams looked ready to call it a day as early as the 15 minute mark, chipping the ball around in fading light.
Despite the ground being rated a Heavy 10, there was still a goal of the day contender after Lions co-captain, Brock Smith set off on a run which ended in Alex Dijkstra scoring his first senior goal for the club late in the piece.
Unfortunately though, two late injuries soured the result for the visitors.
Messages with love heart emoji’s were flicked out between Moe players not long after the game, following what appeared to be innocuous collisions at first, but turned out to be much more serious.
Club favourite, Justin Morrow was stretchered off, while senior leader, Trent Baldi spent Sunday in hospital dealing with a troublesome shoulder.
Morrow clashed heads with Maffra’s Zach O’Keefe, and looked down and out before even hitting the ground.
Play was haltered for nearly five minutes as trainers from both clubs (including Morrow’s cousin Trent), tendered to him.
The goal sneak has worn a helmet in the past due to concussion, and may need to bring it out again upon his return.
Lions swing man Tom Blackshaw also missed at the weekend due to concussion sustained in a marking contest during the previous game against Traralgon.
The injuries to Morrow and Baldi came amid shockingly bad timing during the last quarter when the result was set in stone.
The carnage took the toll to well beyond 10 senior Lion players currently out of action.
Gun midfielders Myles Poholke, Harri Sim and Ben Daniher did not play at the weekend, nor did ruckman Chris Prowse, centre half back Declan Keilty or key forward Kurt Holt.
Key defenders James Maslen, Charlie Rieniets and Luke Mulqueen have also been out with season-ending injuries since the first few rounds, while Gippsland Power player, Jordan Shields is fighting the clock to get back in time.
Adding to that, Lions playing-assistant Aaron Paxton is playing through discomfort, sporting a glove to protect some broken digits, while fellow rebounding defender Ben Maslen is being nursed back to full fitness.
Maslen played half a game in the reserves at the weekend.
Perhaps fortuitously given the outs, a Gippsland Power bye allowed the Lions to play Liam Masters at the weekend.
Masters was among the best, along with Dijkstra, Smith, Nathan Scagliarini, Scott van Dyk and Crocker.
Granted all teams have injuries, and it is ‘that time of year’, that the Lions were still able to win by nearly 10 goals does just demonstrate what it means when football commentators talk about ‘squad mentality’.
Judd Burgiel was best for Maffra, while Boyd’s efforts may well have prevented the scoreboard blowing out even further.
Sam Anderson also put in an honest stint, as did veterans Dylan Alexander, James Read and Alex Carr in his 150th game.
Drouin 13.9 (87) def Wonthaggi 11.10 (76)
WORDS appear superfluous sometimes.
Such sentiments were apt after Drouin defeated Wonthaggi 13.9 (87) to 11.10 (76).
Jubilant scenes followed the breakthrough win at Ted Summerton Reserve, as Drouin did something many even within their own club probably thought was unlikely to happen this season.
Such expectations were perhaps understandable given the Hawks have been forced to play every game away from home this season while their ground undergoes redevelopment.
The travel however has arguably fortified the playing group, and they surely celebrated as a band of brothers following their 11 point victory – over a top four side nonetheless, tipped by at least one league pundit to win the flag this season.
The technically home side got into the match during the second term, kicking four goals to one to take a seven point lead at the main break.
With the sniff of an upset, the Hawks hardly let up, and were 20 points ahead with one quarter to play.
Wonthaggi pressed hard, kicking five goals, yet Drouin kicked four, and took that many points home, as their club song says.
That song was sung with plenty of gusto afterwards, and if the two slabs of Melbourne Bitter spotted in the bin of the Ted Summerton home rooms on Sunday morning was any indication, the Drouin boys rightly savoured their victory.
Seb Amoroso was best for the winners after kicking four goals.
Others to play well were Tomas Unferdorben (three), Kye Quirk, Aden Quirk, Noah Lafrantz and Mac Williames.
The Power was best-served by Brodie Mabilia, Kyle Reid, Noah Anderson, Cooper McInnes (four goals), James Lewis and Hunter Tiziani.
Wonthaggi are genuinely the walking wounded at present, and in danger of slipping out of the top five.
The Power are currently fielding what is believed to be one of the youngest senior teams in the club’s history, and used just 27 player points at the weekend.
Are you sure you still want to change leagues Drouin?
Leongatha 16.12 (108) def Bairnsdale 7.7 (49)
RECORDS tumbled in Leongatha.
A bag of 12 goals from Patrick Ireland saw the Parrots win 16.12 (108) to 7.7 (49) against Bairnsdale.
Ireland’s effort broke the previous record for a Leongatha player against the Redlegs, beating the 10 booted by Chris Dunne in 2016.
Somewhat ironically, both players have ties to the Ellinbank District Football-Netball League.
Ireland kicked a ton for Buln Buln last season, while Dunne played for Ellinbank and these days, runs a farm in the area.
Amazingly, Ireland was the only multiple goal scorer for the Parrots at the weekend.
Helping him though was Aaron Heppell, Luke Bowman, Sam Forrester, Jack Hume and Brock Davidson.
Cooper Harvey, Tyran Rees, Will Mitchell, Lachlan Byrne-Jones, Tom Blenheim and Damon O’Connor worked hard for the well-travelled Redlegs.
Warragul 14.14 (98) def Sale 9.11 (65)
WARRAGUL also created history against Sale.
The Gulls won 14.14 (98) to 9.11 (65) at Western Park.
This marked the first time Warragul has beaten the Magpies in both home-and-away fixtures in the same season since 1994.
The home side broke away after a tight first half, kicking seven goals to four.
Jordan Stewart had a big say in the result, booting half-a-dozen for the winners.
Others to play well were Sam Whibley, Tom Hobbs, Riley Senini, Isaac Wallace and Tom Stern.
Shannen Lange again led the way for Sale, followed by Jake Hutchins, Harry Tatterson, Cooper Whitehill, Tom Wrigglesworth and Tom Glenn.
Furthermore, it was the first time Warragul and Drouin won on the same day since 2019.
Only the best were born in ’94.
