FOOTBALL
GIPPSLAND LEAGUE
By LIAM DURKIN
MICROSOFT didn’t need a software update to crash.
Trying to predict the Gippsland League at the moment would be enough to blow up even the most powerful computers.
Just when a round appeared easy enough to tip, the most astonishing Gippsland League season in living memory produced yet another set of curveballs.
Round 15 saw Morwell, no less than a week after losing to likely wooden spooners Maffra, roll top side Leongatha – for the second time this season mind you.
Moe traded places with Traralgon in second, after an insane finish to the Maroons game against Sale, who themselves are now only one win from the double chance.
As ridiculous as it sounds, Wonthaggi are arguably the most dangerous team – and they are seventh on the ladder.
The Power have won just one game less than third-placed Traralgon.
Even the bottom three sides, Drouin, Warragul and Maffra have percentages between 68 and 81.
With three rounds to go, it is looking like the final five will not be decided until literally the last quarter of the last round.
Ordinarily, 15 wins secures a double chance. This year, the competition is so tight, teams will honestly qualify with 12.
The Gippsland League sure is a super competitive league. Surprised no one else wants to join.
Leongatha 4.10 (34) def by Morwell 8.8 (56)
BOYD Bailey must be the most frustrated coach in the league.
Frustrated in a good way – as contradictory as that sounds.
For all the close games Bailey’s Morwell team have put him through in his time as head coach and assistant (17 games decided by 10 points or less since 2022), their performance at the weekend proved exactly what they are capable of.
If you are only as good as your last game, then Morwell are the best team in the competition right here and now.
The Tigers completely dismantled premiership favourite Leongatha at the weekend, beating the Parrots 8.8 (56) to 4.10 (34).
The win replicated Morwell’s victory over the same opponent earlier in the season.
That win was described as arguably the Tigers’ best since the 2014 premiership.
What they achieved at the weekend however would just about top it.
When Morwell knocked off Leongatha back in Round 6, it was an arm wrestle on the Tigers’ home deck.
This time however, Morwell took down Leongatha in their own backyard, and what’s more, didn’t have to resort to ultra negative defensive tactics.
Truthfully, the Tigers made the Parrots look very second rate.
You could have counted on one hand the number of touches a few Leongatha players had.
Adding to the intrigue, there appeared to be no magic formula or drastic changes to the game plan that led to Morwell’s eventual 22 point victory.
To quote The Grade Cricket – “the boys were on”.
It was as simple as that for Morwell.
The Tigers could have been playing on a dry autumn day such was the cleanness of their hands around stoppage, while in defence, the desperation went to another level.
This was personified in the third term when what looked to be a certain Leongatha goal to VFL player Cameron Olden was denied. The ball got over the back to Olden, who was goal side, no less than 10 metres out, yet was wrapped up by two Morwell defenders who trickled the ball through for a minor score.
The Tigers pressure led to some very uncharacteristic skill errors from the usually precise Parrots.
A dropped chest mark in the goal square from Jackson Harry, and one to Cade Maskell at half-back was a likely reflection of this.
These are not players who drop marks by the way.
The pressure went from physical to mental (perceived pressure), so much so Cooper Alger sent a grubber kick from half forward after receiving a free and having all the time in the world in which to execute the skill.
A sloppy handball by Ty Hall also highlighted the perceived pressure. Having marked at centre half back, Hall’s handball to a teammate went below his knees. While it might not seem like much, and the player receiving the ball still took it cleanly, the extra half-second it took to bend down and collect the ball allowed Morwell players to come forward and defend, rather than see Leongatha stream forward.
If pressure creates diamonds, Morwell would have had the most sought after collection in the Gippsland League after Round 15.
A very short first quarter (25.30) saw Leongatha ahead by five points. While ordinarily, the Parrots often break away the further the game goes on, Morwell was able to stick with their opponent, and had the game right where they wanted at the half, all tied up at 25-apiece.
The Tigers were certainly up for the fight, and a smart goal from Burkeley Macfarlane playing on to drill a long range goal at the scoreboard end gave Morwell the lead momentarily.
That fight saw Blake Couling courageously go back with the flight in front of the interchange gates, sitting under a high ball from Leongatha’s Darcy Hume.
Morwell lifted again in the third, kicking two goals while keeping Leongatha to three behinds.
Things were rolling for the Tigers, and when Tyler Hillier still managed to find Brandon McDonald inside 50 on his left, slipping as he kicked it, to give Morwell a goal inside the first three minutes, a famous victory was starting to materialise.
Leongatha captain Tom Marriott gestured his frustration at this moment, throwing both hands in the air, in a possible sign of cracks starting to appear.
Marriott himself had been subjected to constructive criticism earlier, when Tallin Brill showed his displeasure at not receiving a handball close to the boundary which led to a Marriott kick going out on the full.
Leongatha’s greatest strength in recent years has been their ability to destroy teams on turnover.
Morwell denied this in the simplest way possible – by not giving them the opportunity to do so.
The Tigers also won more free kicks for putting their head over the ball and being first to it.
Cohen Campbell kicked Morwell’s second goal for the third term, giving them a 12 point lead at the 19 minute mark.
The visitors would have extended the lead had it not been for a huge brain fade from Tom Gray.
The Parrots received a big let off after a Morwell goal was taken off right on the eve of three quarter time.
Gray responded to a gut punch from Olden by throwing him to the ground inside 50, just as McDonald had sent through a major.
As Jack Dyer would say “retaliate first”.
Gray redeemed himself by kicking the first goal of the last, taking the lead to 20 points just three minutes in.
From there, Morwell controlled tempo as necessary, before Riley Loprese sealed the deal with a neat set shot in front of the scoreboard as the clock ticked closer to red time.
Brandon Bailey was best for the winners, while Macfarlane, Charlie Burr, Boyd Bailey, Gray and Max Linton were prominent.
Unassuming types Judah Leak and Dan Musil also had some good moments.
Leak, who has started every season for the last three years in the reserves before making his way into the seniors mid-to-late year (swear there is one of them at every club), was rewarded with a shot on goal in the second term following a holding the ball decision, while Musil kicked a team-lifting goal in the second, grabbing the ball out of the ruck.
By all reports, when the bushy-bearded and socially minded Musil (who has written university papers on coal transition) literally walked in off the street to play for Morwell in 2015, no one quite knew what they were in for.
More than 100 senior games and an interleague jumper later, he has become one of the first picked every week.
Morwell’s work in taking Leongatha’s best players out of the equation was reflected in the list of the Parrots top six.
Those accolades went to Ben Willis, Hume, Sam Forrester, Jay Walker, Harry and Travis Nash.
Drouin 3.7 (25) def by Moe 5.6 (36)
SOME things just go well together. Bacon and eggs, strawberries and cream, CC & Dry.
In a country football sense, there might be no surer combination than Jacob Wood and Drouin Recreation Reserve.
For the third time in his last four visits to the mud-soaked venue, the Moe captain was among the best players.
Naturally, he left the ground covered from head to toe in dirt, as did his teammates, following their 5.6 (36) to 3.7 (25) victory.
If the scores weren’t a clear enough indication, the match was a territory battle, with the ball spending most of the time well below the knees.
Perhaps fittingly given the oval’s likeness to a cow paddock, Drouin kicked all their goals in the first quarter, figuratively making hay while the sun shined.
Their efforts gave Moe some cause for concern at the first break, with a 13-point lead in the context of the conditions a more than handy buffer.
The Lions responded with 2.2 (14) to 0.3 (3) in the second term, to leave the game all but square at the main break.
By now the paddock had become a cattle yard, but unfortunately the Drouin farmers left the gate open and a couple of Moe bulls got out.
A quick snap amid congestion from Wood floated toward goal to give the Lions a four point lead, which was followed in similar fashion from Matt Heywood at the ‘downhill’ end of the ground.
Those would be the last two goals of the game.
Moe led by 11 points at three quarter time, and played out the last term in a pure grind to end up winning by that same margin.
Wood and Heywood were joined in the best by Trent Baldi, Jacob Balfour (who may have felt like he was at work on his Willow Grove farm), Scott van Dyk and Jordan Shields, both a very long way from the classroom.
The Lions went to second on the ladder as a result of this win.
Adding to the subplots to emerge this season, it is perhaps ridiculous to think Moe aren’t being mentioned in the same breath as Leongatha or Traralgon, despite being outright second on the ladder with three games to go.
Granted losses to Warragul, Sale and Traralgon (twice) have meant the Lions have been inconsistent at times, they have still beaten seven of nine opponents in the competition.
James McKellar collected the votes for Drouin, followed by Will Brewer, Tom Johnstone, Kaiden Walmsley, Ed Morris and Caleb Quirk.
In strange circumstances, Morris has already been announced as coach of West Gippsland side Garfield for next season.
Surely the last three weeks at training are going to be a bit awkward for Drouin, knowing their current assistant coach is already on the move.
Elsewhere, the Hawks’ home ground will receive a huge overhaul in coming months, however there remains the issue of this season’s finals series.
Drouin is set to host the Qualifying Final in just four weeks’ time, and still has one home game left before the regular season is out.
Keep in mind there will be three games of football on the surface by the time the seniors start.
Truthfully, the condition of the Drouin oval was not absolutely horrendous during the under 18s last Saturday, but the same could not be said by the time the seniors started.
Making matters more complicated, Drouin is not the only venue slated to host finals this year with substandard facilities.
Bairnsdale is also hosting a Week 1 final, but its surface has been quite soft, while the cricket square at Moe’s Ted Summerton Reserve is in fact even muddier than Drouin in some parts.
Add in Traralgon Recreation Reserve (still without proper change rooms) hosting the Preliminary Final, and it unfortunately means four of the six finals could well and truly make a mockery of the tag “premier” associated with the Gippsland League.
Such an outcome would undoubtedly be a shame given how great the competition has been.
The fact Ted Summerton Reserve has missed out on hosting more finals because the grass wasn’t green enough to broadcast on TV and social media is looming as a great irony.
There might not be any grass at all to broadcast these finals.
Traralgon 9.9 (63) def by Sale 10.6 (66)
DOM Sheed eat your heart out.
Of the 240 goals Brad Dessent has kicked for Sale, the one he kicked last Saturday might just be the most important to date.
In scarcely believable scenes at Terry Hunter Oval, Dessent nailed a set shot from hard up against the boundary line at the 26-minute mark of the last quarter, to see the Magpies to a famous win over Traralgon 10.6 (66) to 9.9 (63).
The build-up and subsequent drama following Dessent’s match-winner was a story in itself.
It started with Traralgon veteran Dylan Loprese soccering through a rush behind that wasn’t called deliberate, which then saw the ball taken by teammate Mitch Membrey for the kick out.
Membrey played on, but was caught holding the ball by Dessent, who himself had to get around a Loprese shepherd.
In front of Traralgon’s Pud’s Bar, the key forward split the middle, giving Sale a four point lead deep into time on.
Surely that was it?
Further drama was to follow, as this time, a deliberate out of bounds was called favouring Traralgon, who pressed in the driving rain while Sale flooded most of their numbers back.
Traralgon had one last opportunity at the 29-minute mark.
Maroons defender Joel Scholtes was forced to collect the ball from the carpark after it sailed out on the full. His kick from half forward spilled out the back, where Sale defender Jonty McGuiness suffered the unlucky fate of the ball rebounding off his boot and over the boundary on the full as he tried to soccer it out of danger.
The ball was now in the hands of non-other than Loprese.
With the chance to do as Dessent did, from pretty much the same angle, the game was now riding on one kick at the 30-minute mark.
Unfortunately for Traralgon, the shot sailed wide, through for a minor score.
Sale managed to clear from the resultant possession, although not before a pile-on in a dangerous position inside 50 for Traralgon.
Who else but Magpies superstar Shannen Lange though to intercept the ball in close around the stoppage, to kick the ball clear and kill vital seconds.
The ball then made its way to the middle of the ground, where eventually the siren sounded well past 31 minutes.
The match had been an arm wrestle for the most part, with only 13 points, 11 points and eight points separating the teams at each break.
Traralgon however led at each change, only to see Sale kick three goals to one in the last term.
The scoreline belied conditions to some extent, as the Traralgon oval was described as being as “wet as a lobsters lounge room” by one Sale official.
Hudson Holmes was best for the winners, while McGuiness, Lange, Dessent (three goals), Jack Leslie and Jarrod Freeman all did well.
Sale assistant coach Shane Fyfe didn’t have much to say post game, understandably wanting to get out of the cold.
“Grind all day, boys did well, great team effort,” he said.
The win put Sale outright fourth, in a precarious position of either securing a double chance or facing an elimination final.
Fyfe said the approach for the last three games was simple.
“Try and win every game and see where we get to.”
Luis D’Angelo was best for Traralgon. He received good support from Loprese, Tristen Waack, Jordan Cunico, Scholtes and Max Jacobsen.
Waack, aligned with Northern Bullants in the VFL, needs to play one more game to qualify for finals.
Maffra 5.7 (37) def by Wonthaggi 12.9 (81)
WONTHAGGI are keeping everyone on their toes in Gippsland League football.
The Power broke away from a determined Maffra at the weekend, winning their Round 15 clash 13.8 (86) to 5.7 (37).
The Eagles, spurred on by captain Daniel Bedggood breaking the club’s senior games record (254), took it up to their visiting opponents in the first half.
Maffra trailed by just four points at the main break, and would have been daring to dream on the resumption.
Wonthaggi however, with their season on the line, came out and kicked seven goals in the second half, all while keeping the Eagles to just two behinds.
Cooper McInnes slotted four in the win and was best-on-ground. Aiden Lindsay, Jakeb Thomas, Jye Gilmour and fourths player Tom Macmillan were also in the best, along with Andrew McNeel.
Gilmour, Macmillan and McNeel are just a host of relatively unknown Wonthaggi players, inadvertently adding to the fear factor associated with the Power potentially being one of the great unknowns come finals.
McNell had not played seniors since Round 2, and only joined the club this year from the Barwon region, where he mainly featured in the early game there.
Brayden Monk, Seth Smith, Ashton Wright, Alex Carr, Tom Scott and Zac Felsbourg were best for Maffra.
Wonthaggi are seventh on the ladder, and their home game against Bairnsdale this weekend is shaping as a virtual elimination final for either side.
Bairnsdale 10.14 (74) def Warragul 6.14 (50)
THE Redlegs did what they had to do at the weekend, beating Warragul by 24 points.
Ethan East was best in his 100th game, while Hugh Longbottom, Lachlan Byrne-Jones, Cooper Harvey, Will Mitchell and Byron Vickery were productive.
Isaac Wallace, Mitch Smart, Brad Hefford, Tom Stern, Oliver Wilson and Jack Lewsey were best for the travelling Guls, who lost 10.14 (74) to 6.14 (50).
Wonthaggi has a clear run to finals (games against Bairnsdale, Drouin and Moe).
If you were to ask this writer: can Wonthaggi win the flag? The answer would be succinct.
Absolutely they can.
