By Nicholas Duck
Here's what you might have missed this week.
Bairnsdale vs Leongatha
A bright first half wasn't enough to save Bairnsdale from Leongatha's wrath on Saturday, the Parrots kicking away in the second half to register an 82-point win.
Jenson Garnham kicked seven goals for the visitors in the 20.17 (137) to 8.7 (55) thrashing, as the Parrots managed to fix up some accuracy woes to power away.
Before that third term it had been a much more encouraging effort from the Redlegs, who trailed by just five points at the first break and 10 at the second.
That was, however, in large part thanks to some poor kicking from the reigning premiers, whose slender lead came despite having 10 more scoring shots to their name.
After half time the weight of numbers won out, Leongatha piling on 14.5 to Bairnsdale's 2.5 to head home with a comfortable four points in the bag.
Garnham gave the Redlegs defenders headaches all day to end up being named his side's best while Aaron Heppell (three goals) also contributed inside 50.
Veteran Tom Marriott played a steady hand through the middle while Benjamin Harding, Kim Drew and Jack Sheridan were all strong.
Having now copped two thumpings from as many starts it's back to the drawing board for the Redlegs, who face Morwell this Sunday.
Cooper Harvey, Jonah Walker, Oscar Clarke, Lachlan Byrne-Jones, Ethan East and Oscar Morrison fought the good fight against the Parrots.
Photo: Andrew Day
Moe vs Maffra
Churchill's Gaskin Park became the scene of a massacre as Moe left Maffra mercilessly mangled in a 96-point mauling.
Despite not being able to play on their usual home turf it was a good day to be a Lions forward, with Ben Crocker (six goals), Myles Poholke (six) and Riley D'Arcy (five) all feasting on the young Eagles' defence.
There wasn't much to be said of the 24.11 (155) to 8.11 (59) result, mostly thanks to Moe putting the game to bed early when they kicked the first 10 goals of the day.
One-way traffic was the order for most of the day with the Lions pouncing on any Maffra error and giving their three-headed monster up forward plenty of opportunity to punish. Poholke's efforts were the finest of the day, given he's not even traditionally a full time forward.
Alex Djikstra, James Harmes, Liam Masters and Thomas Blackshaw were all significant contributors to the win in addition to the goalkickers.
The only thing that may have annoyed coach Leigh Poholke was the Lions' last quarter, in which they put the cue in the rack to concede 5.3 and let a triple-digit win go begging.
Normally you'd say a coach would let that slide but Poholke has developed a reputation for being especially demanding.
Also interesting to note was Chris Prowse back in Moe colours after just two games with his 'new' club Phillip Island. Guess it's better to cut the cord early.
That final term is about all Maffra will have to hang their hat on in a dismal day at the office.
Given they knocked off Sale by 72 points the week prior, you shudder to think what we might see when Moe meets the Magpies in a couple of months. Best of luck guys.
Danny Butcher, Jett Killoran, Jack McQuillen, Thomas Scott, Sam Anderson, Sam Anderson and Kevin Rondon kept trying all day.
Photo: Julie Sim
Sale vs Morwell
Sale's season of pain showed no signs of slowing down in round two after they were totally trounced by Morwell at home.
Much has been made of the Magpies' eventful off-season but right now the on-field product is the real concern as Sale were once again smashed, the final score this time 3.4 (22) to 22.23 (155).
The Tigers' recruitment of Trafalgar young forward Isaac Caroleo paid dividends, the former Blood putting up eight goals to lead all comers.
Morwell dominated proceedings from minute one, creating countless scoring opportunities across all four terms.
The only thing that saved Sale from a bigger loss was the Tigers' kicking in front of the sticks.
The Magpies now have a date with the undefeated Warragul but might just be eyeing off the following game against Drouin as their first real chance for a win.
Outside of Caroleo, Morwell's best included Aidan Quigley, Isaac Abas, Burkeley Macfarlane, former Maroon Hugh Dunbar and Cohen Campbell.
Cooper Rand, Thomas Glenn, Adam Wallace, Thomas Wrigglesworth, Josh Butcher and Kaden Mcculloch gave honest accounts of themselves for Sale.
Photo: Wazshots
Drouin vs Traralgon
Drouin may have lost Saturday's contest against Traralgon but they'll have gained a few admirers following a spirited – and high scoring – effort at home.
Speed was the name of the game as both sides looked to test each other on the outside.
What followed was a mostly closely fought battle that saw the Maroons maintain a not-so-comfortable lead for the majority of the day until breaking away late to prevail 19.19 (133) to 16.9 (105).
Despite the defeat there was a lot more to like for the home side than the week prior where they were demolished by Warragul and managed only three goals.
Having identified their outside game as needing some work, the Hawks had a need for speed, holding their width and using the expanses of their home to full advantage.
The Maroons love to play a similar way – especially when they slingshot the footy from half back – making the ensuing game an easy watch.
Most pleasingly for the Hawks was their newfound resilience. After trailing by 25 at the first break the young Drouin players didn't drop their heads, instead taking advantage of a Traralgon yellow card to work right back into the game.
As hearty as they were, however, class and experience often wins out in footy. And Traralgon has plenty.
The Maroons found the extra gear they needed late, kicking away to seal their second win of the season – albeit in much tougher fashion than most expected.
Drouin were well led from the front by captain Seb Amoroso, who refused to give an inch at the contest or inside 50, where he snagged three goals.
The inclusion of the Hawks' Gippsland Power players – Blake Bibby, Kaiden Walmsley and Caleb Kleeven – as well as recruit and Box Hill Hawk Lane Ward gave them some extra flexibility around the ground.
What that meant was they could send Zayne Atkins and Max Williames to the half backline, where the pair enjoyed excellent performances to be among their side's best. Ben Brasier enjoyed one of his finest games yet in the maroon and gold out on the wing, while ruck Riley Wierzbicki played his heart out in the absence of injured big man Denver Lund.
Ewan Croucher rounded out the Hawks' top performers, with the youngster given a job on Traralgon coach and spearhead Dylan Loprese and doing nicely. Loprese finished the game with two goals but limited influence otherwise. Traralgon's finest inluded Joel Scholtes, whose rebound work from the backline set them up beautifully on more than one occasion.
Matthew Northe, Liam Willaton, William Brent, Mitchell Mustoe and Michael Jacobsen were their other players to impress.
It was Jacobsen who got the day's scoring started early, followed quickly by Jackson McMahon (three goals) capitalising on a Hawks turnover.
A nice clunk on the goal line by Jack Walsh gave the home side their first but the opening term was largely owned by the visitors, who cut Drouin open to great effect.
An incident in a marking contest just before quarter time, however, saw Maroon Tom Hamilton handed a yellow card and given his marching orders, leaving the visitors a man down on the field to begin the second term.
Drouin were able to take full toll, booting six goals across the second term to head into half time just 11 points down.
Midway through the third they were even able to sneak their way in front, the Drouin faithful roaring after Noah Lafrantz put through a goal to hand their team a one-point lead.
As was the case for most of the match though, whenever Drouin asked the question Traralgon had the answer.
Willaton ran one in straight after the centre bounce to restore Traralgon's lead – and this time they wouldn't give it up again.
Try as they might, and boy did they give it a good try, Traralgon had them covered, running out the game the stronger side.
While disappointed to lose, Drouin coach Jordan Kingi said he was "a lot happier this week, that's for sure."
"We worked on during the week what we didn't do great at all (last week). Looking at the stats against Warragul we recognised we let ourselves down on the outside," he said.
"Our mids held their width at the contest and once we got the ball going we could get one-on-ones in front of the ball.
"In the end though when the tough got going their leaders and experience shone. To our boys' credit though we gave ourselves an opportunity and that was my message at the start of the preseason, to give ourselves a real chance in as many games as we can and we did that.
"We wanted to give our crowd something to cheer about and I think we did. That's the standard for the rest of the year now."
Drouin will travel away to face Wonthaggi this Saturday.
Wonthaggi vs Warragul
Master 1, apprentice 0.
Warragul has come from the clouds on Saturday to register a nail-biting comeback win against Wonthaggi by just three points.
Having conceded six goals and not scored in the first quarter the Gulls were up against it all day and trailed by 30 points heading into the final term.
Against all odds however, the visitors found another gear, booting five unanswered majors - the last from former skipper Brad Hefford - to secure the unlikeliest of victories 10.9 (69) to 10.6 (66).
The win gives star coach Gary Ayres the bragging rights over Wonthaggi counterpart Tristan Francis, who played under Ayres during his time at the helm of Port Melbourne.
It was an entirely different Warragul side who began the game to the one that finished it. Despite some decent signs early, the Gulls were unable to finish their work inside 50 and were punished in full for it, the Power running and gunning out of defence to leave the visitors exposed the other way.
It meant the Gulls headed into quarter time with things looking rather dire.
After stabilising across the second and third terms without being able to really eat into the deficit, Warragul were reborn late, working their way on top around the contest and defending aggressively high up the ground to keep the ball locked in their forward half for most of the last quarter.
Rhys Galvin put in yet another commanding performance at half back to be the Gulls' best, driving his side forward time and time again in a best on ground performance.
Ruck Sam Whibley played a major role in Warragul's fourth quarter resurgence, giving his midfielders silver service as they made a late charge.
Tom Hobbs put an indifferent first term behind him to be one of the Gulls' key performers through the midfield while Vinnie Caia, Liam Serong and Riley Senini were all excellent.
For the Power it was defender Kyle Reid who shone brightest, working well with Jakeb Thomas to keep Gulls spearhead Jordan Stewart relatively quiet.
Hunter Tiziani kept things lively around half forward as Isaac Chugg and recruit Bryce Joyce did their level best to get Wonthaggi over the line.
Those Power stars were especially at the forefront early when their team was well on top.
Warragul hardly helped their own case going inside 50 at the beginning of the day but it was a credit to Wonthaggi's hard running and defensive pressure.
Jack Blair got the scoring underway in the first few minutes, catching Gulls defender Lucas Carter holding the ball and setting the Power up for what would end up being a 6.2 to 0.0 quarter.
Coming in at the first break it was obvious the Gulls needed to take some inspiration from Ayres' addresses and be more composed.
Jordan Stewart gave them the start they were hoping for in the second when a free kick gave him a goal from deep in the pocket, the two sides now trading blows across the middle two terms.
Wonthaggi’s Matthew Wade went down with an injury, leaving the Power weakened through the middle in the second half.
The visitors generated hope at the start of the third through consecutive goals to Tom Stern but Wonthaggi still had the answers, leaving the margin at five straight kicks at the final change of ends.
The Gulls would need at least five goals for a chance of winning and had only kicked five to that stage. No chance, right?
Clearly the players disagreed.
With Whibley now making his mark the clearance game began to turn well and truly towards the Gulls as Jed Lamb was dragged down close to goal, giving the Gulls the perfect start to the quarter.
Vinnie Caia gathered a loose ball after a marking contest, shrugged a tackle and kicked truly to spark some real belief, before youngster Sam Grummisch took advantage of a high contact free to bring Warragul within 11 points.
The pressure was right on the Power now and nowhere was that more evident than when Chugg kicked out of full back only for the ball to go out of bounds on the full.
Caleb McIntosh – hard up against the boundary mind you – wheeled out and kicked truly to send the visiting fans crazy.
With time ticking down and Wonthaggi not looking like scoring, the ball hit the ground inside the Gulls' attacking 50 yet again as Stern, calm as ever, cleverly chipped the ball back centrally to find Brad Hefford unmarked 20 metres out on a slight angle.
The former captain played his part to perfection, slotting the shot to give Warragul their first lead of the day with just minutes left.
The Power gave their all to try and regain the lead late as Tom Hobbs went down with a blow to the face but it was all for naught, the Gulls celebrating wildly on the final siren.
Speaking post-game Ayres said he was proud of his side's comeback efforts.
"It was a nice feeling because at quarter time it was like 'oh my god we're in some trouble here,'" he said.
"Wonthaggi were rebounding really well and getting some speed on it. And they were delivering to some really dangerous areas ... I thought our boys were a bit reactive at times."
Ayres said his three quarter time message was "to gain territory where we could."
"I thought we defended the way we wanted to, fairly high and we were able to get some momentum.
"I was really pleased and proud of the way the boys took that message on."
The Gulls' draw now opens up for the next few weeks with games to come against Sale, Bairnsdale and Maffra. Given they'll start favourites for all three, it gives them plenty of opportunity to build a base for the rest of the year.
Image: Shaz Caia
