Here's what you might have missed this week.
By Nicholas Duck
Moe vs Bairnsdale
Harry Pepper, take a bow.
Moe’s star small forward was genuinely taking the mickey on Saturday, putting on a 13-goal performance for the ages as the Lions easily swept aside Bairnsdale.
Pepper was everywhere in the 30.12 (192) to 13.13 (91) rout, piling on the pain from all angles at Newborough’s Northern Reserve.
Almost matching him blow for blow was superstar Myles Poholke, who achieved the rare distinction of kicking nine goals and yet still clearly not being best on ground.
Poholke has some serious claimed for being the best player in the league and will be tough to beat come best and fairest night.
It was a comfortable day overall for the Lions despite missing their twin targets in Ben Crocker and Riley D’Arcy as they slammed home at least seven majors every quarter.
Such is the talent Moe boasts on every line that they can rock up missing some of their best and still walk it in.
Pepper and Poholke were of course the Lions’ best, as were James Harmes, Blake Mullane, Benjamin Raymond and Trent Baldi.
The Lions will now gear up for their annual Big Freeze event this weekend against Warragul – an event that will no doubt have even more meaning following the recent death of Neale Daniher.
Traralgon vs Maffra
A barnstorming second quarter saw Traralgon ease their way to a 64-point win over Maffra.
Having trailed by six points at quarter time the Maroons asserted themselves after the first break, booting seven goals to two en route to a 19.18 (132) to 9.14 (68) victory.
A further 10 goals to five in the second half ensured the home side enjoyed a nice percentage booster as well as giving themselves a two-game buffer inside the top five. As things stand it's pretty hard to see anyone outside the five jumping in.
It's the perfect tonic for Traralgon, who looked lethal as they bounced back from their loss to Warragul.
Jackson McMahon led the scoring with four majors as Mitchell Mustoe, Tye Hourigan, Cooper Brown, Matthew Northe, Connor Ambler and Tom Hamilton were all excellent.
In terms of positives for Maffra the continued emergence of Seth Smith (four goals) as a genuine goalkicker has been a fun watch in what was otherwise a dour defeat.
Smith featured in their best alongside Archer Stobie, John Butcher, Thomas Phillips, Angus Weatherley and Sam Anderson.
Playing well on a tough day for Bairnsdale were Cooper Harvey, Jonah Walker, Ethan East, Oscar Morrison, Tyran Rees and Charlie Mann.
Sale vs Wonthaggi
The Magpies' woes have been well documented, but Saturday was a whole new level of challenging for the black and white, who were helpless to stop a 0.3 (3) to 26.10 (166).
Wonthaggi had 10 goals on the board before quarter time and while the home side's defensive efforts improved from there, offensively they just couldn't get anything going against a resolute Power backline.
It's not often you see a clean sheet in footy but credit where it's due, Wonthaggi's defensive unit refused to give an inch all day.
Up the other end 11 different players joined in the goalkicking party, Cooper McInnes the best of them with seven.
Isaac Chugg, Nathan Muratore, Joshua Bates, Jai Williams, Aiden Lindsay and Hunter Tiziani were the Power’s best.
Mitchell Thacker, Josh Butcher, Darcy Van der Voort, Jordan Dessent, Archer Gerrand, and Cooper Whitehill were Sale’s.
Warragul vs Leongatha
They don't get any closer than that.
A behind after the siren from Parrots veteran Tom Marriott has seen Warragul and Leongatha play out the most dramatic of draws in their Titanic clash at Western Park on Saturday.
Having led by 23 points at half time, an extremely efficient Warragul side found themselves in trouble after the reigning premiers booted five unanswered goals in the wet to take the lead heading into the final quarter.
A tense affair in which neither team could find a score was broken up when a late 50-metre penalty went Tom Hobbs' way, handing the Gulls what seemed to be a match winner.
Leongatha refused to lie down, however, finding Marriott unmanned at 40 metres out. With the siren sounding and the Parrots down by one, Marriott kicked for the win, only for his kick to fall left and leave the scores deadlocked at 12.1 (73) to 10.13 (73).
Warragul will feel like they let one slide, given their second quarter burst that saw them take control on the scoreboard – albeit without having control of general play. Going from 10 goals in the first half to two in the second didn't help their case.
Leongatha will feel the same, having wasted numerous opportunities across the day and ultimately looking like the better team for a lot of it.
Easing the Gulls' disappointment is the fact they were missing a number of first choice players, namely ruck Sam Whibley (exam), Rhys Galvin (VFL), Liam Serong (VFL) and Luke Garner (soreness).
Included in the team were two debutants in Harry Hodge and Oliver Langford, the latter of which was thrown right in the deep end to battle manfully against premier big man Jack Sheridan in the ruck.
The Gulls also got to see a familiar face in Leongatha recruit Fraser Phillips, who was on debut for the Parrots. Phillips, who has spent time with a variety of VFL clubs, last played for Warragul in 2019.
Warragul key forward Jordan Stewart may find himself in hot water for a third quarter incident in which he allegedly slung Hayden Lindsay to ground off the ball.
The Parrot defender took some time to get up and left the field soon after looking very groggy.
A free kick was paid after the incident without any further reprimand but the Gippsland League have confirmed Match Review Officer Peter Carey will be reviewing the match as he does with all games.
Given the Gulls face an imposing Moe side this weekend any suspension would make their next game an even bigger challenge.
Leading the way for the home team were midfielders Riley Senini and Hobbs, who fought tooth and nail for every possession.
Young guns Xavier Olsson and Caleb McIntosh impressed on the outside as Sean Masterson helped the Gulls effectively shut down the Parrots' tall targets Patrick Ireland and Jenson Garnham.
Tom Stern also did well in a number of roles, especially the ruck late when Langford's day was ended by a leg injury.
Zavier Lamers booted four goals for the Parrots, including three straight in their third quarter comeback, to spark them into action.
Sam Forrester and Tim Sauvarin provided plenty, as did savvy small forward recruit Curtis Murfett. Veterans Aaron Heppell and Cade Maskell were as important as ever, with Maskell making several last line defensive efforts late to deny Warragul.
The Gulls made the most of their early opportunities to create some chaos and take an early lead. Jed Lamb was proving to be a particular handful, kicking the first goal of the day and putting on a smart shepherd to let Vinnia Caia walk in another.
Leongatha found the pressure a challenge and made some mistakes you wouldn't expect, dropping marks or missing kicks like we haven't seen them do in some time.
Not long into the second quarter a big clunk from Stern saw him run one in as the Gulls got off to the races.
Two further goals to Lamb – including a beautiful roller on the boundary – had the home fans roaring.
Leongatha fought back via Ireland and Lamers, before some push and shove resulted in a frankly dumb holding free to Garnham, who took the gift happily.
As they had done all half, Warragul responded and were up and about heading into the sheds when Jordan Stewart brought down a contested grab and slotted it.
The rain and hail suddenly teemed down during the break but quickly cleared out, leaving Western Park a slippery prospect in the second half.
With ground ball gets and territory becoming vital the Parrots made their move through Lamers, who slotted three straight – two of which came via high tackles.
Gulls coach Gary Ayres urged his troops to fight in the last and though they got plenty of looks inside 50, they couldn't make them count in a stoppage-filled term.
As the clock ticked down, Hobbs was thrown a lifeline when Justin Pellicano ran around him too closely following a mark, leading the umpire to send him 25 out straight in front and finally give Warragul the lead back.
Despite having had just one goal kicked the time went over 30 minutes, the Gulls unable to stop Leongatha from finding Marriott inside 50 as the Parrots pounced on a turnover in the final play of the game.
While the crowd held their breath for the deciding kick, it was deflation in the end for both teams as the points had to be shared.
Speaking post-game, Ayres said it was a real game of momentum.
"I was really encouraged by how we played in the first half ... in that third quarter there were obviously some things we definitely need to tidy up," he said.
"Their ability to get goal-side of our defenders in that front and square stuff was not what you want. Some of our tackling technique was not what you want to see. It just invites more pressure.
"You can't deny how much resilience we've shown in the last couple of months, that's what I'm really loving about what we're doing. The changes during the week, we had to cover those and had two first gamers. We've got to measure ourselves against the sides who are dominant in this competition and we stood up."
Warragul will now look towards their away game against Moe this Sunday at Churchill where they will take part in the Lions' annual Big Freeze event.
As a battle between the league's only two undefeated teams, it's sure to attract plenty of attention.
Drouin vs Morwell
A fourth quarter collapse saw Drouin sink to a disappointing 54-point loss against Morwell on Sunday.
Trailing by just 10 points at three quarter time the game slipped past the Hawks in the blink of an eye as the Tigers poured in four quick goals to start the final term and put the margin well beyond reach.
From there the margin blew out, the Hawks clearly deflated as they fell away 6.16 (52) to 17.4 (106) on their home deck.
Not helping their case was coach Jordan Kingi being ruled out of the game early in the first quarter with calf tightness.
Left without their leader, the Hawks - whose average age on field dropped to around 20 years old - looked flat for a lot of the day, even when they were doing a lot right.
Just like their loss the week before against Bairnsdale it was missed chances going forward that killed any momentum Drouin tried to create.
The Hawks did a decent enough job on transition out of defensive 50, finding targets to set themselves up. But whenever they crossed that halfway mark things went awry, more often than not ending in a dump kick that landed in a waiting Tiger defender's lap.
It meant that while they were generating plenty more chances, Morwell were looking far cleaner going forward.
When the Tigers kicked the first goal of the fourth quarter, the dam walls threatened to burst.
And burst they did, a costly double goal going against the Hawks when some words to the umpire resulted in Zachary Anderson being handed a free right in front of the sticks seconds after Josh Galea booted his fifth.
With the margin suddenly out beyond 20 points the shoulders slumped and the day was done.
Fighting hard all day for Drouin to be their best was defender Kyron Smith, who racked up intercept possessions aplenty under immense pressure.
Will Young and Campbell Bedford did well, as did midfield duo Lane Ward and Brodie Atkins, while big man Riley Wierzbicki battled manfully in the ruck.
For the Tigers it was Tyler Hillier leading the charge at the coal face alongside Hugh Dunbar, the pair driving Morwell forward time and time again.
Cody Chapman was effective at half back as Galea's five goals proved vital, especially when Drouin were on top early on.
Blake Couling and Zachary Anderson enjoyed solid performances, the latter moving forward late to boot two fourth quarter goals when the Tigers made their move.
It was Drouin who burst out of the blocks through Noah Lafrantz and Wierzbicki, looking dangerous every time they went inside 50.
Morwell were able to steady around the contest and get some repeat chances as Galea knocked through his first, but a big contested mark to Jack Walsh gave Drouin their third not long before the first break.
Kingi left the field for a calf rubdown but soon took his place on the bench, his day done.
With a breeze at their backs the Tigers responded in the second, kicking the first three of the term before Ewan Croucher snapped one to break their momentum.
Walsh continued to look like Drouin's most likely target inside 50 but had a frustratingly wayward day in front of the sticks, rushing some shots and not making them count.
The Hawks began to butcher their forward half chances as Morwell debutant Josh Monacella goaled just before half time, his teammates rushing to congratulate him.
Drouin stepped up to the challenge after half time when Walsh gathered and kicked truly and Lafrantz marked a floating ball, going back and giving the home side the lead once again.
Galea had other ideas however, first curling through a beauty and then being too strong on the lead to give the Tigers a 10-point advantage headed into the last.
It was Galea who would strike again minutes into the fourth, getting boot to ball following a scramble in the goal square.
With the Hawks immediately giving away a dumb free to make it back-to-back goals, the game opened right up for the visitors, who piled on the pain late to take home a big win.
Speaking post-game, a deflated Kingi said Morwell took advantage of his side's lack of energy.
"To Morwell's credit they sucked away our offensive game, which is what good teams do. They take away what you're good at really quickly," he said.
"They're a known good defensive team. We've just got to make sure when we come up against those kinds of teams we keep trying to work through our offence as best we can.
"We were at times just holding the ball up longer than we needed to. Our goal all day was to make sure we release runners and unfortunately we weren't really doing that.
"It's going to be a good game to review, we were doing a lot wrong but were still in the game. Which is good but bad at the same time ... we regroup and we go next week."
Drouin will host Maffra this Saturday with Kingi expected to play.
Image: Warragul Drouin Gazette
