Round eight in the Gippsland League saw an incredible Big Freeze effort in the east while the south enjoyed a thriller that went down to the wire
By Nicholas Duck
Here's what you might have missed this week.
Bairnsdale vs Sale
They do say a week is a long time in football.
Just seven days after copping a 101-point loss to Moe, Bairnsdale inflicted their own dose of pain on nearby rivals Sale on Saturday, mauling the Magpies by 113 points at their annual Big Freeze event.
On a day that saw the Redlegs send several locals down their slide to raise money for FightMND, the senior players put on a show for their home crowd, slamming home 14 second half goals en route to a rout 24.15 (159) to 7.4 (46).
As big as the result on the field was, it was even bigger off it as Bairnsdale successfully raised close to $200,000 in a truly remarkable effort. And with more donations to be tallied and counted, you'd have to imagine that 200,000 is in the bag.
2024 league leading goalkicker Brayden McCarrey was at his lethal best as he finished the day on seven goals, ahead of teammate Jonah Walker on five.
Sale, whose woes have been well documented this year, showed some of their best form for the season early but couldn't sustain it, falling away as the game wore on.
Still, seven goals is a hell of a lot better than the zero they kicked the week before. When you're where they are, it's the little wins you have to count.
Cooper Harvey, Jamie Dore, Jonah Walker, McCarrey, Randall Stewart and Oscar Morrison were the Redlegs' best on a big day in their club calendar.
Jontie Gray, Ashton Wright, Kai McDonald, Jack Cantwell (three goals), Kane Cutler and Thomas Wrigglesworth were best for Sale.
Morwell vs Traralgon
Traralgon has held firm against a gallant Morwell side to record their fifth win of the season.
The Maroons were certainly put through their paces by a new-look Tigers side under replacement coach Aidan Quigley.
Although the Tigers threatened to steal the day at times, last year's runners-up had enough talent and experience to pull away 13.6 (84) to 9.10 (64).
Indeed, it was an early ambush at Morwell Recreation Reserve as the Tigers pounced on their prey, putting through four goals to two in the first term to lead at quarter time.
As great sides do, however, Traralgon responded, opening the second quarter with five straight majors to put the game on their terms.
From there the Maroons did what they had to, another onslaught early in the third ensuring they'd be walking away with four points in hand.
Skipper Tye Hourigan was at his absolute aerial best for the victors, cutting off forays forward like nobody's business.
Tom Hamilton (three goals), Connor Ambler, Mitchell Mustoe, Liam Willaton and Tate Marsh were the other Maroons to impress.
Another competitive effort from Morwell wasn't quite enough as the Tigers now slip to 2-6, seemingly far away from replicating their 2026 finals appearance.
They're capable of some chaos, however, and this Saturday against Warragul could be the perfect time to show it.
Blake Couling, Cody Chapman, Zac Cheffers, Hugh Dunbar, Samuel Gissara and Aidan Quigley all played well against the Maroons.
Wonthaggi vs Leongatha
The South Gippsland showdown saw Wonthaggi put in an almighty effort to topple Leongatha in a thriller at home.
Inaccuracy threatened to derail the home side at various stages and although there were some heart-in-mouth late when the Parrots made a run at it, the Power found a way 7.14 (56) to 8.5 (53).
Having trailed by 16 points at half time in a low-scoring game one might have forgiven Wonthaggi for rolling over against the reigning premiers.
The Power boys had other ideas though, putting together a comprehensive – if inaccurate – third term to wrestle the lead back heading into the last.
Some early success in the fourth found them 14 points up and looking the goods, until consecutive majors to Tallin Brill and Zavier Lamers put the Parrots within a kick.
From there Wonthaggi were able to kill the clock, creating stoppage after stoppage and nailing several inspirational tackles even as the Parrots pressed.
Wonthaggi have now overtaken Leongatha on the ladder as a result, sending the Parrots outside the top five for the first time in a long time.
Leading the way for Wonthaggi were Jai Williams, Jarryd Blair, Isaac Chugg, Jakeb Thomas, Aiden Lindsay and Joshua Bates.
Drouin vs Maffra
It was another case of fighting hard in defeat for Drouin on Saturday as they succumbed to Maffra by 22 points.
Playing on the Hawks' speedy home deck, the goals flowed throughout the day as the home side were left to count the cost of coughing up red time goals.
The Hawks let through crucial goals at the end of the first and third terms, leaving themselves a fair hill to climb as they spent most of the day chasing.
Climbing that hill proved to be like climbing a mountain as the young Hawks were left to rue another missed chance, this time downed 14.15 (99) to 18.13 (121).
Outside of that it was a fair contest between two developing sides in a high-scoring and entertaining affair for the crowd.
Young gun Brodie Atkins again starred for Drouin in and under, putting his body on the line to try and will the maroon and gold over the line.
Ben Brasier played a strong game out on the wing, putting in several great individual efforts to keep Drouin flowing forward.
Blake Bibby found himself rolling forward in a new role and though he finished the day on one major, he racked up plenty of goal assists in a team-first performance.
Seb Amoroso fought like hell in the midfield and up forward as always while Peyton Saddington did an admirable job on Maffra key forward Seth Smith, keeping the imposingly big goalkicker to three for the day.
Will Young rounded out Drouin's better players on the wing, showing his defensive nous with several intercept efforts.
For Maffra it was Henry Anderson showing his stuff, driving the Eagles forward time and time again in a great all-around performance.
Max and Archer Stobie were both strong, as were Will Burgiel, Jett Killoran and Sam Anderson.
The Hawks were on the board almost immediately in the first term when the ball spilled straight into Brasier's waiting arms at full forward, letting him run into an open goal.
Max Stobie responded in turn the Eagles to get them rolling as they kicked three straight to open an early buffer.
Two great goals to Rylie Baker – the first a dribbler that rolled and bounced all the way and the second a wonderful snap off the pack – got Drouin back in business, but it would be Maffra who ended the quarter the stronger side as Seth Smith and Jack McQuillen booted the last two majors of the quarter in the final minutes
The Hawks were left ruing some wastefulness in front of goal, at one stage having 2.5 to 3.1.
The second term saw momentum changing wildly with the teams trading goals, sometimes straight from the centre clearance like when Amoroso got on the end of one immediately after Leo Stephenson put one through for the visitors.
At one stage Maffra broke 23 points clear and threatened to put the game beyond doubt, but late scores from Jack Walsh, Kaden Gregg and Baker ensured Drouin would head into the rooms only six points down.
By the time the third quarter came around, however, the Eagles began to make their opponents truly regret those early misses.
Smith clunked one on a lead before Stephenson got on the end of an elite end to end play, helping kick off a run of four straight for the visitors.
Jack Walsh was able to break the rot but as they had done in the first term, Maffra struck late to lead by 28 at the final change.
Maffra coach Hayden Burgiel was forced from the bench to begin the fourth quarter after a word with the umpires ended in him being shown a yellow card.
Needing the first of the final quarter the Hawks did their level best with early scoring shots but, having failed to capitalise, the Eagles whisked it away and put the nail in the coffin.
Drouin never gave in and scoring almost 100 without noted goalkicker Noah Lafrantz – who missed with delayed concussion symptoms – was admirable but it was another week of what might have been.
Drouin coach Jordan Kingi described the game as "a really good contest between two really young teams."
"The scoreboard doesn't indicate how competitive it was ... we did a lot right, we just at crucial times in the game let up a goal or two," he said.
"That's the really disappointing thing, it was a tight contest that could have gone either way. It's a game where we definitely did a lot right but did a little more wrong, which we'll work on. We were just chasing tail all day."
Drouin will travel to face reigning premiers Leongatha this Saturday.
Moe vs Warragul
Warragul's unbeaten start to the season has come to a screeching halt following a 51-point loss to Moe at Churchill.
The battle between the league's only undefeated teams was settled relatively early when a barnstorming first quarter saw the Lions 18 points up at the first break.
From there they were able to hold steady, keeping Warragul at arm's length until breaking the shackles late to win 19.12 (126) to 10.15 (75).
While earnest in their efforts, Warragul found themselves outmatched by an experienced and extremely talented Moe outfit as they severely missed star players like Liam Serong, Rhys Galvin and Jordan Stewart – the latter of which is serving a three-week suspension for an incident with Parrot Hayden Lindsay last week.
In their place were three young debutants – Tyson O'Leary, Henry Allsop and Cooper Leighton – with all of them having their moments.
Add to that an early ankle injury to defender Lucas Carter that ruled him out of the game and left Moe able to take full toll against a side that weren't always making the best decisions with ball in hand.
The Lions were especially lethal early on the outside, running in waves to create options and deliver it into a forward line featuring plenty of potential goalkickers.
Leading the charge for the Gulls was midfield duo Tom Hobbs and Riley Senini, who battled manfully against Moe's superstar-laden engine room.
Backman Sean Masterson threw himself at every inside 50 as he found himself marshalling a very youthful defensive unit while ruck Sam Whibley stood tall even as he gave away plenty of height.
Young gun Xavier Olsson and James Harrison were solid despite the defeat.
Moe boast a heap of talent across all lines but perhaps the best among them is Myles Poholke. The former Adelaide Crow was simply terrific through the middle and up forward, where he played the majority of the second half to finish with seven goals.
Blake Mullane and Nathan Scagliarini won plenty of the ball through the middle and put it to full use as Scott van Dyk's return to the team proved a fruitful one.
Declan Keilty was a wall down back as he enjoyed not having to worry about Stewart until he was swung forward late and Thomas Blackshaw played well.
Playing in front of a full Gaskin Park while their usual home ground still undergoes works, the Lions made the early moves through goals to Poholke and Mullane.
Allsop found his first major at senior level, clunking a mark close to goal much to the delight of his teammates.
But it was Moe's spread that looked far more dangerous as Harry Pepper, Nathan Scagliarini and Trent Baldi – who snapped a beauty over his head – put the Lions' class on full display.
Warragul's cause certainly wasn't helped when Lucas Carter had to be carried from the field, unable to put weight on his right foot and leaving them down one of their most important defenders.
A late goal to Jed Lamb kept the Gulls in the fight at the first break, but three straight Moe majors to open the second term had alarm bells ringing for the red and black.
Warragul began to generate some repeat inside 50s but couldn't make any of them count as they repeatedly failed to find any of their players on the lead.
In the end Moe had to do it for them when a terrible kick out of defence went straight to Leighton, who became the second debutant to goal for the day.
The Gulls generally did well to hang around for most of the second and third quarters, keeping the margin gettable and threatening a potential comeback. For every question they asked, however, Moe had the answers, always finding a goal when required to keep them at bay.
Two goals to Moe recruit Riley D'Arcy late in the third term seemed to break the Gulls' resistance as they blew the margin out late. Poholke could have had five goals himself for the term if not for some wayward kicking.
Moe now find themselves as the only side yet to taste defeat. With the talent they have, including a healthy dose of AFL experience, they're a clear frontrunner for the flag as things stand.
Warragul remain in second, having split their three-game run against last year's top three perfectly with a win, a loss and a draw.
Speaking post-game, Warragul coach Gary Ayres described the Lions as a "very good" side.
"I thought their spread post-clearance was pretty dynamite and clearly their ability then to use their forwards was also very efficient. They're playing with a lot of confidence. Having said that I felt we probably contributed six or seven goals to them today with our poor decision-making and ineffective skills," he said.
"We hung in there which is a credit to how the boys are but you take your hat off to them, they're clearly top of the ladder for a reason."
Despite suffering their first loss, Ayres said it was good to get a taste of what the Gulls need to fix if they are to contend.
"We're coming from a long way back if you look at what our seasons have been as far as win-loss goes. So the go is to challenge and to understand what you want to do to aspire to where Moe and Leongatha are at."
Warragul return home to face Morwell this Saturday.
Image: Andrew Day
