By Nicholas Duck
The grand final replay went down to the wire on Saturday as other sides had the chance to flex their muscles.
Here's what you might have missed this week.
Leongatha vs Traralgon
Now that's what you call a grand final replay.
Traralgon have absolutely stolen a thriller on Saturday, coming from the clouds to deny Leongatha away from home.
The Maroons kicked four goals to one in the final term to overcome a 16-point deficit and walk away winners 11.10 (76) to 11.7 (73), avenging their round one defeat in the process.
In a hotly contested match there were narratives aplenty, not the least of which being a mid-match red card to Parrot forward Justin Pellicano.
Pellicano, who had kicked three goals to that point, was involved in a clash off the ball and given his marching orders, ending his day prematurely and forcing his side to play a man down on the field for 15 minutes.
Despite that his teammates appeared to hold sway through much of the day, keeping the reigning premiers at arm's length up to three quarter time.
From there, however, Traralgon kicked into gear.
Led by efforts from Tristen Waack as well as star key players Dylan Loprese and Tye Hourigan, the Maroons kicked three straight to find themselves in front late in the day.
Zavier Lamers got out the back to restore Leongatha's advantage, only for Loprese to gather a ground ball and snap truly for his fourth.
Leongatha managed to get it deep again before the siren ultimately denied them, putting them a game behind Moe in the race for top spot.
Traralgon, meanwhile, have proven that while they might have looked a little off at times this year, they're the reigning champs for a reason.
Waack, Loprese and Hourigan were joined by Mitch Membrey, Jordan Cunico and Conor Little in the Maroons' best.
Jack Hume, Kim Drew, Aaron Heppell, Sam Forrester, Jay Walker and Travis Nash played well for the Parrots.
Maffra vs Sale
The Gippsland League's famed 'Battle of the Birds' was more a massacre of the Magpies as Maffra secured a dominant win over their bitter rivals in Sale.
The Eagles laid waste to their old enemy at home, booting seven of the first eight goals of the day to eventually cruise 21.11 (137) to 8.8 (56).
Sale, severely missing the influence of superstar Shannen Lange, stemmed the bleeding at times, at one stage drawing to within five goals. It mattered little however, the hill they were trying to climb quickly turning into a mountain as Maffra enjoyed inflicting a good old-fashioned thumping.
By the time the last quarter rolled around, the Eagles thumped through the final five goals of the day to truly turn it into a red and black party.
Caleb Calwyn was their main conduit to goal, finishing the day with five, while Jack McQuillen, Alex Carr, Jett Killoran, Brayden Monk (four goals on return to the side), Noah Christy and Archer Watt were all outstanding. The Lange-less Magpies were best served by Cooper Whitehill, Thomas Glenn, Thomas Wrigglesworth, Will Leslie, Harry Ronchi and Jack Leslie.
Moe vs Bairnsdale
No Crocker, no worries.
Moe made it look easy on Saturday with a big win over Bairnsdale despite the absence of star goalkicker Ben Crocker.
They've got a fearsome depth of talent over there in Motown and that was on display for all to see during the Lions' dominant 20.14 (134) to 8.11 (59) performance.
Making it all the more impressive was they did it also without key tall Declan Keilty, who like Crocker missed with injury.
They were also technically missing star ball winner Riley Baldi, who was forced into the reserves as per the request of his VFL team Casey.
Instead, Harry Pepper led the way on the wing, streaming up and down all day to constantly provide an attacking option and managing to get on the end of four goals himself.
Brothers Leigh and Myles Poholke also chipped in with four each.
The Redlegs were honest in their efforts but were simply outclassed, conceding four of the first five goals of the day and struggling to bridge the gap thereafter.
With Crocker expected back as soon as next week and Keilty to follow later on, it's going to be a tough challenge for anyone to topple this Moe side.
Their next opponent, Traralgon, managed it earlier this year. Will we see the Lions take their revenge?
Moe's other standouts were Trent Baldi, Scott van Dyk, Alex Dijkstra and Chris Prowse.
Flying the flag for Bairnsdale were Tyran Rees, Will Mitchell, Ricky Tatnell, Ryan Cullinan, Lachlan Byrne-Jones and Charlie Cook.
Warragul vs Wonthaggi
Warragul have claimed two wins in a row for the first time in almost seven years following a comprehensive 59-point win over top five team Wonthaggi on Saturday.
The Gulls kicked the first four goals en route to the 14.15 (99) to 5.10 (40) victory, evening their win-loss ledger in the process.
While some skill errors and lapses in judgment kept the door slightly ajar throughout the middle two quarters, the Power never looked a likely challenger as the home side ran riot late to push the final margin out to almost 10 goals.
It's the first time since July 2018 the Gulls have won consecutive games, putting an end to something of a real hoodoo for the club.
Sean Masterson was at his intercepting best, hardly putting a foot wrong as he shut the Power down again and again, whether through one of his 15 mark or a well-timed spoil.
Tom Hobbs backed up his excellent showing last week with another bullocking performance through the middle and up forward, gathering 44 disposals (13 clearances) and two goals. Hobbs wasn't afraid to get in the faces of some of the Power's more vaunted stars, giving plenty of lip along the way.
Riley Senini found plenty of space to do some damaging work and ruck Sam Whibley (38 hit outs) won his duels around the ground to the point he essentially had his own cheer squad in the crowd.
Forwards Tom Stern and Jordan Stewart rounded out the best, the former putting plenty of finesse on some spearing passes inside 50 and the latter crashing and bashing his way to four goals.
Wonthaggi were best served by the likes of Kyle Yann and Noah Anderson, who tried to give them some spark around the ground in an otherwise fairly listless team performance.
Hunter Tiziani fought hard, as did backman Ethan Dickison, while star on-baller Ryan Sparkes and Brodie Mabila were commendable.
Injuries and absences have hit the Power hard in recent weeks. Joshua Schulz, Jakeb Thomas, Harry Dawson, Fergus O'Connor and Isaac Chugg are just some of the regular names missing from their line-up on Saturday.
That helps to explain and justify sizeable losses to top teams Leongatha and Moe. Not so much a side lower down the ladder like Warragul.
From the first 15 minutes you would have thought it was the Gulls nestled inside the top five as they hit the scoreboard hard.
Goals to Jordan Stewart, James Harrison and a quickfire double from Tom Hobbs gave them the ascendancy early, looking dominant around the ball.
Despite that, some loose accountability for their opponents gave the Power chances. However, it was only Kaj Patterson who could translate that into a score.
Much of the second term had both teams ruing some sloppy kicking inside 50.
Gull Isaac Wallace was handed a yellow card at the 17-minute mark after an elbow to the stomach dropped Ryan Sparkes, leaving Warragul a man down for the rest of the half.
Patterson took advantage by kicking his second, though after another 10 minutes of stalemate the Gulls made their move.
Jordan Stewart had a minute to remember, driving home a tough set shot near the boundary before marking and goaling straight from the resulting centre clearance.
It was then Power defender Kyle Reid's turn to be sent off, losing his cool close to half time when he was caught holding the ball.
With Reid swinging a hand at Tom Stern twice, it was another yellow card and another Warragul goal from the 50-metre penalty.
In the third quarter the Power did just what their opposition did the quarter prior – winning the term while a man down.
The Gulls, looking shaky and making some poor decisions with the ball, led by 30 points at the final break as Wonthaggi eyed off a potential comeback.
The door was slammed shut on that, however, when Wallace kicked a quickfire goal from a holding the ball free kick.
Further goals to Stewart and Kai MacLean ensued, and it was officially party time – something the very vocal Warragul crowd didn't mind.
Warragul coach Jed Lamb said it was "a great win for us."
"It's week to week for us since the competition's so even and the ladder's so even at the moment. Every week's a final for us and we're enjoying it, we're embracing it," he said.
"There's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears to be in the mix. We're going to leave no stone unturned and give our all and see what happens. The group's showing real maturity, they're coming in leaps and bounds."
Wonthaggi will now lick their wounds as they prepare to host Maffra next week. Lose that and their finals spot could even be in trouble.
Warragul's next three matches - Morwell (away), Sale (home) and Bairnsdale (away) - may very well determine the rest of their season. Based on the last couple of weeks, they'll give it a red hot crack.
Drouin vs Morwell
That's more like it.
Drouin may not have come away winners against Morwell on Saturday but they came away with a lot more respect in a competitive defeat to a top five team.
Having been pummelled by their cross town rivals the week before, the Hawks responded with a much more positive performance, despite ultimately being beaten 8.8 (56) to 13.10 (88) in a 'home' fixture at Traralgon.
Things are all relative with the Hawks. Featuring an almost unprecedented number of teenagers in the side and not having their home ground available, they've got to take the wins where they can get them, small as they might be.
Their pressure was up and about throughout the day, staying in the Morwell players' faces to make them earn their possessions.
Their short kicking game was much improved from last week, where they struggled to hit targets throughout.
In terms of disposals (329-319), contested possessions (133-120) and inside 50s (42-44) it was a relatively good day for Drouin.
The only thing they lacked was reward on the scoreboard – Drouin were only able to find one goal in the first half, despite their best efforts.
Their second quarter was especially costly, where they were kept to just one behind while the Tigers built what was ultimately a match winning lead thanks to some cleaner movement inside 50.
Still, rather than drop their heads, the Hawks got to work to keep their opponents honest, kicking seven goals to eight past half time.
It was a damn sight better than their 89-point capitulation to the Tigers back in round one.
Defender Ben Tranfield led the way for Drouin's defensive commitment, keeping the always dangerous Brandon McDonald to two goals and limited influence otherwise.
Will Young helped on that front in the backline, as Kye (39 disposals) and Aden Quirk (44 disposals) bounced back to rack up plenty of clearances through the midfield.
Ruck Denver Lund competed strongly against Morwell big men Isaac Abas and Charlie Burr as Max Williames again shone off half back.
For Morwell Brandon Mcauliffe was a real presence around the ball, crashing and bashing his way at the contest to great effect.
Sam Walsh continues to develop nicely as a damaging outside player and got on the end of three goals to go with his excellent performance while Blake Couling, Anthony Rosato, Cody Macdonald and Aidan Quigley were all influential in the win.
It took almost eight minutes for either team to strike the first blow until Rosato got the Tigers rolling with a nice right foot bomb out of a stoppage.
Further goals to Walsh and Abas had Morwell looking ominous until Drouin fought back courtesy of a nice set shot from Seb Amoroso.
Unfortunately for the Hawks that was to be their only goal of the half as they struggled to make the most of their inside 50s in the second term.
It wasn't for a lack of opportunity either, instead being cruelled by some simple errors.
Morwell continued to press on with two more goals, extending their lead to 29 points at half time.
The teams found things on relatively even keel in the third – Morwell at one stage pushed out to beyond 40 points, Drouin then fighting back with three consecutive goals to Lund, Riley Wierzbicki and Kaiden Walmsley.
The Hawks at times threatened to creep closer, only for the Tigers to find the steadier when required.
Cody Fleming had to be taken from the ground in the last quarter after being brought down hard in a bruising tackle, coming off with a concussion from his head hitting the ground.
There also were fears surrounding a potentially serious knee injury, though he appears to have avoided the worst.
The Tigers will happily take the win and were deserved winners as they now turn their attention to a bona fide eight-point game this weekend against Warragul. With both teams sitting at five wins and five losses, the winner will have gone some way to securing a spot inside the top five.
Drouin coach Leigh Horsburgh was delighted with his team's response, saying "it was like a different team to the week before."
"Even though the score says they won quite convincingly it was a lot closer than that," he said.
"The thing that hurt us the most was probably our second quarter. We want to focus on the positives though and we had a lot of those, our defensive group was really switched on and were winning plenty of one on ones.
"Last time we played them we really fell away late but they fought it out to the end. Really good effort by the boys." Drouin travel to Bairnsdale this weekend still in search of their first win.
Image: Wazshots
