FOOTBALL

GIPPSLAND POWER

By TOM HAYES

 

IT may be early in the Talent League season, but it has been an exciting start for both the Boys’ and the Girls’ programs.

The boys started their season a fortnight before the girls, but both sides started off with a bye.

 

GIPPSLAND Power’s Boys Program was off to a flying start on the field, with a win away from home against the Dandenong Stingrays at Belvedere Reserve in Seaford.

Power led at every change to fight off a fast finishing Stingrays outfit, who they eventually downed by 16 points, 16.13 (109) to 14.9 (93).

Leongatha’s Xavier Lindsay was named best-on-ground in their opening performance, while fellow Parrot Thomas Hanily, Traralgon’s William Brent and Heyfield’s Asher Eastham (three goals) all made the best.

The following weekend (April 7), the Power was once again on the road, this time to Ballarat’s MARS Stadium to face the Bendigo Pioneers.

Gippsland started slow, which resulted in a 14-point quarter time deficit, but they certainly made up for it in the second term to tie the scores at the main break at 5.5 (35) apiece.

The Pioneers earnt the upper hand in the third term, kicking 5.3 (33) to the Power’s one-straight, which in turn gave Bendigo a 27-point lead going into the final stanza.

In wet conditions, both sides played out a fairly even period of football to see the Pioneers off as winners, 12.9 (81) to 8.9 (57).

Leongatha’s Max Donohue made the best for Power, while Lindsay and Traralgon’s Brent earnt another inclusion. Drouin’s Brodie Atkins was also noted for his efforts.

Between rounds three and four (weekend of April 12-14), the Boys’ Talent League had a break for a couple of different representative opportunities.

The Under 16s and 18s Victoria Country and Metro sides selected players from across the Talent League for their respective trial matches, which was one of the representative opportunities available to certain players.

For the Under 16s selected for Victoria Country was Marlon Neocleous (Traralgon) and Judd Burgiel (Maffra), who were two of the 10 Gippsland Power boys selected to play in the Game 1 against Victoria Metro.

For the Under 18s, Foster’s Willem Duursma and Heyfield’s Eastham were among five boys from the Power program to play Victoria Metro in Game 1.

Maffra’s Max Stobie and Traralgon’s Brent were two of three Power boys selected for Game 2 against Victoria Metro.

During the same weekend just gone, Morwell’s Ricky Mentha and Leongatha’s Lindsay got to don the Australia jumper for the first time in 2024, when they were selected to represent the Australia Under 18s against VFL side Coburg.

This was the first of two matches that the Australian U18s will play, the second coming against Footscray on the weekend of April 27-28.

 

THE Gippsland Power Girls’ Program got off to a great start at the weekend, annihilating Murray Bushrangers by 87 points.

It wasn’t just 87 points, it was 12.15 (87) to 0.0 (0).

The girls seem to have gelled much faster compared to last season, where it took them until Round 7 to claim their first win.

They only scored over 87 points once last season, and that was with a score of 13.10 (88), in that first win of the season in Round 7 against Northern Territory.

This time around however, the Power steadily grew upon their lead, all while keeping the Bushrangers to nil.

Sale City’s Ash Centra lit it up with four goals, earning herself best-on-ground honours. Also in the best was Traralgon’s Chelsea Sutton, Sale City’s Zali Gallagher, Nar Nar Goon’s Maya Crestani, and Warragul Industrials’ Addison Howe.

 

THIS weekend (Saturday, April 20), both the Boys’ and the Girls’ Power sides will head to Dandenong’s Shepley Oval to take on the Sydney Swans Boys’ and Girls’ Academy.

The girls will start their Round 3 game at 10.45am, while the boys will start their Round 4 game 12.45pm.