By Nicholas Duck
Saturday saw one team pull off the upset of the season while another flag fancy put themselves back in the hunt for a top three finish.
Here's what you might have missed this week.
Maffra vs Moe
Holy moly.
Maffra have pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent Gippsland League history after bringing down a star-studded Moe side by five points in an enthralling contest on Saturday.
Playing on their home deck the Eagles trailed by as much as 36 points partway through the second term before launching a stunning comeback, taking the lead late and holding on for dear life to win 19.12 (126) to 19.7 (121) and hand Moe their first loss of the season.
The much more inexperienced Maffra side held no fear against their vaunted opposition, running and gunning their way through – and past – the Lions to take it right up to them.
As the clock wound down it was young Jack McQuillen who stood tall for the home side as he kicked six goals, including his side's final three majors of the day.
The last – in which he cleverly nudged his opponent under the ball and rolled one through out the back moments after a Moe goal – proved to be the sealer in a high-scoring and highly entertaining contest.
McQuillen has now kicked 28 goals from 11 games in his first season out of the thirds in what is proving to be a remarkable year for the burgeoning talent.
The Lions pressed late with a few flying shots, including one on the run from Nathan Scagliarini that fell short just as the siren sounded to roars from the crowd.
It's an incredible win for the rebuilding Eagles, who have proved the Lions do in fact bleed.
For Moe's part it was a rather flat performance at times, especially when they gave up their early advantage.
Myles Poholke booted another bag of eight to keep the Lions rolling along on the scoreboard even as they struggled to contain the Eagles' forward half firepower.
They're still the flag favourites, but it just goes to show that if you play well enough, anyone is gettable.
McQuillen was the Eagles' best, along with Alex Carr, Zachary O'Keefe, Jett Killoran, Elijh Berry and Jack Armstrong.
Playing well despite the defeat for Moe were Scagliarini, Poholke, Jordan Shields, Luke Cheffers, Riley D'Arcy and Blake Mullane.
Leongatha vs Bairnsdale
Leongatha did exactly what they had to against Bairnsdale.
With Warragul and Wonthaggi facing off against one another the chance to close to gap on the top three was never going to pass the Parrots by as they dismantled the Redlegs 21.22 (148) to 5.7 (37).
Parrot forward Jenson Garnham again dined out as he kicked seven goals – his fifth time kicking seven or more this season.
As they so often do to visiting teams Leongatha made sure the game was settled nice and early when they kicked 6.8 to 1.0 in the opening term.
When one team generates 14 scoring shots in one quarter and the other manages one it usually gives you a good indicator of where the teams stand.
And so it proved as Leongatha bounced back from their loss to Moe in fine style while also drawing within a win of being back in the top three.
The Redlegs sorely missed the influence of forwards Oscar Morrison and Brayden McCarrey as they found themselves unable to make any inroads on the scoreboard.
Outside of Garnham Leongatha's top performers included Nicholas Argento, Aaron Heppell, Sam Bradley, Thomas Marriott and Kim Drew.
The Redlegs were best served by Tyran Rees, Jamie Dore, Jonah Walker, Cooper Harvey, Lachlan Byrne-Jones and Oscar Baylis.
Morwell vs Sale
Morwell enjoyed a significant percentage boost as they ripped Sale to shreds by 163 points.
The gap between the Magpies and the rest of the competition has been a stark one this year, with the Tigers becoming the third club to break the 200-point barrier against them as they won 30.21 (201) to 6.2 (38).
Lachie Cloak became the focal point up forward the Tigers have been crying out for when he kicked five goals for the day. Not bad for a bloke whose season tally up until Saturday was two.
The Tigers have endured some scoring issues in recent weeks but encountered no such problems against the inexperienced Magpies, putting through 14 first half goals to set the tone.
Funnily enough the Tigers now boast a percentage above 100 despite having only won three games. When two of those wins have been against Sale it starts to make a little more sense.
Cloak was named best on for the day as Morwell enjoyed strong performances from Maclan McInnes, Zachary Anderson, Blake Couling, Tyler Hillier and Cody Chapman.
Cooper Whitehill, Adam Wallace, Josh Butcher, Mitchell Thacker, Darcy Van der Voort and Archer Gerrand never stopped trying for Sale.
Warragul vs Wonthaggi
Warragul will have plenty to ponder this week after suffering an intensely frustrating 18-point loss to Wonthaggi at home on Saturday.
Following an enterprising first quarter, things quickly fell apart for the Gulls, who became their own worst enemy thanks to a seemingly endless string of turnovers, missed shots and ill-discipline.
Much of that was caused by a dourly defensive masterclass from the visiting Power side, who kept the Gulls to just two goals after quarter time.
The 5.16 (46) to 10.4 (64) loss belied a solid start in which Warragul kicked the first three goals of the game to look in control.
Warragul were especially sloppy in their usually clean transition from half back as the pressure from the Power – both real and perceived – led to them constantly handing the ball back to their opponents.
Even when they did find shots inside 50 Warragul failed to finish off their work, making for a tough watch all around for fans in black and red.
While the home side had plenty of players who were far below their best, co-captain Tom Hobbs refused to die wondering, putting his body on the line as usual to be his side's best.
Backman Sean Masterson was in fine form in the first half before the Power began to avoid him entirely to great effect.
Liam Serong was solid rotating forward and through the ruck to cover Sam Whibley, who copped a one-game suspension during the week, while Jordan Stewart returned from his own suspension in a surprise role down back.
Kai MacLean and Tom Logan were other Gulls to show some nice signs on a day where the club didn't have a tonne of winners to choose from.
Wonthaggi were led from the front by their defensive unit, in particular Nathan Muratore, who played large parts of the day keeping the Gulls dangerous forwards like Jed Lamb quiet.
Jayden Burns, Ethan Dickison and Kyle Reid all racked up plenty of intercepts to create repeat opportunities for the visitors, while Joshua Bates and Cooper McInnes (five goals) were also excellent.
McInnes especially got off the chain as the game wore on, having none of the goalkicking yips Warragul were experiencing.
It was a different looking Gulls side early in the day as veteran Matt Gray lined up for his first senior game at Warragul since 2013 as the team's primary ruck.
With Jordan Stewart down back and the returning Rhys Galvin up forward it was safe to say coach Gary Ayres had thrown the magnets around to get a new look.
And in the first term it seemed to work as Warragul enjoyed the ascendancy in the territory game, giving themselves plenty of looks inside 50 even as they left a few goals out on the park.
A holding free to Hobbs got the Gulls rolling on the scoreboard more than 10 minutes into the game before some clever body work from Lamb doubled their lead.
A McInnes set shot swung late on the breeze and was called a behind much to the shock of the Power and their fans, who were feeling more miffed when a similar shot from Galvin was given the go-ahead on the stroke of quarter time.
The second quarter was a tough watch as defence became king and neither side could find a clean way through.
Set shot goals to Shannon Bray and Jaxon Foon were the only majors of the term as Wonthaggi crept closer by half time.
After the break it was clear the Gulls had a problem when Bates burst through traffic to nail the first of the half for Wonthaggi.
Constant misses from gettable shots put the Gulls under more pressure and their turnovers weren't helping.
The most unbelievable of their misses came from the usually reliable Hobbs, who marked on the behind line and ran out to snap, only to belly the ball and have it land 10 metres out from the Warragul goal.
Poor discipline had also found its way into Warragul's game as they gave away multiple 50-metre penalties to concede cheap scores.
Warragul finally found their first goal since quarter time when they overlapped to Liam Serong, who drilled it.
But when a Warragul defender tackled McInnes after a mark, the Wonthaggi forward was handed another 50 and put through a crushing blow on the three quarter time siren.
The Gulls had a chance to close the gap less than a minute into the last through Tom Stern, only for his shot to hit the woodwork before the Power went end to end and extend their lead as they marched on to a well-deserved victory.
Speaking post-game, Ayres said his side were playing too much as individuals in the second half.
"For a lot of the game today we were just doing some fundamental, basic errors and being undisciplined. It then contributed to them being thereabouts, our accuracy was not on song. So then of course once the third quarter started, momentum shifted pretty quickly," he said.
"That's not to take away anything from Tristan and his boys, because I thought they played a pretty professional brand of footy today. They were playing as a team and I thought today our play was more about individuals.
"They're one of the best intercepting and defending teams in the competition and I thought our connection with ball in hand was really off today."
Warragul will face Sale away after this weekend's bye.
Traralgon vs Drouin
For the second time this season Drouin has taken it right up to Traralgon before being downed late.
In a battle between two teams who love to run, the Hawks were right in the fight up to three quarter time, where they trailed by just seven points.
After taking the lead early in the last, things took a turn quickly as the Maroons dialled up the heat, slamming home seven straight goals to consign Drouin to a 9.16 (70) to 15.13 (103) defeat.
It was a similar story to their earlier meeting this year, where Drouin were in the game up to their eyeballs until the final term.
Safe to say the Hawks will be left wondering what might have been, having dominated large swathes of the opening term and the beginning of the last without being able to take full toll on the scoreboard.
Indeed, early in the last they kicked six straight behinds before breaking through to get in front.
It left the door open for the Maroons, who are far too good to let an opportunity like that slip.
Before that late run it had otherwise been a solid showing from the young Drouin side, who pressured well and kept up their offensive focus – even if it did leave them caught out on defence a few times.
It wasn't until late that they dropped their shoulders as Traralgon rode a wave of momentum all the way home.
Playing well for Drouin was once again Brodie Atkins, who wore his heart on his sleeve in another great performance through the midfield and on-ball.
Max Williames took a number of nice intercept marks as he provided his usual drive off half back while Seb Amoroso bullocked his way through contest after contest.
Riley Wierzbicki enjoyed some flexibility in his role thanks to the return of fellow ruck Denver Lund from injury, kicking two goals and having a number of shots.
Rylie Baker too could have had a few more goals if not for inaccuracy but remained dangerous inside 50 as Zayne Atkins had plenty of good moments down back.
For the Maroons it was forward Tom Hamilton who proved the difference maker with a crucial six-goal haul.
Hamilton stood up well without goalsneak Jackson McMahon playing, positioning himself well to take advantage of Drouin's turnovers and enjoy a good day at the office.
Liam Willaton continues to flourish in the midfield in the absence of Luis D'Angelo - who played in the reserves during Casey's bye week in a bid to qualify for finals – and veteran Matthew Northe was at his wily best on the wing.
Backman Jye Neilson was strong, as were Connor Ambler and Tate Marsh.
The day's early goings had Drouin off to an early flyer, goaling within a minute courtesy of a leading mark from Wierzbicki.
The Hawks wasted a few more chances to press their case until Traralgon responded through Hamilton and Northe.
A free kick close to home let Baker ensure Drouin headed into quarter time ahead on the scoreboard.
Baker doubled up early in the second thanks to another free and Atkins drew some high contact inside 50 to help lift the Hawks to a 14-point advantage.
Willaton was there to help Traralgon stabilise, however, as they kicked four of the next five goals to earn a seven-point lead at the half.
In a play mirroring the first quarter, Hawks kicked off the second half by finding Wierzbicki on the lead again to keep the Maroons within striking distance.
Two more to Willaton kept Traralgon ahead but heading into three quarter time the opportunity was still there for the Hawks if they could take it.
Full of dash and dare in the fourth quarter, Drouin created chance after chance without making any of them count.
It wasn't until Noah Lafrantz burst through the paint of 50, receiving a handball and kicking truly, that the Hawks finally took the lead they deserved.
As great teams do though, the Maroons responded.
Their intensity and pressure skyrocketed around the ball as a scrambling goal from Michael Jacobsen kicked off a string of Maroons majors that put them in the box seat the longer the game wore on.
Jack Walsh clunked one on the siren to make things more respectable but it was a chance gone begging for the visitors.
Speaking post-game, Drouin coach Jordan Kingi said his side could have put the game to bed earlier.
"We had so much of the play in the first quarter and we thought we planned relatively well from their game style," he said.
"They got momentum and we couldn't stop it. Full credit to them, their system is a really good system.
"Unfortunately we've been on the wrong end of momentum at the end of the last quarter in both games."
Drouin return home to play Wonthaggi after this week's bye.
Photo: Wazshots
