By Nick Duck
The top three solidified themselves in the Gippsland League while another team continues to push their case on the edge of the top five.
Here's what you might have missed this week.
Morwell vs Leongatha
Leongatha bounced back against their bogey side on Saturday with a hard-fought nine-point win over Morwell.
Not many sides can claim to have the wood over the Parrots but that's exactly where Morwell sat coming into the contest, having knocked them over in both of their match-ups last year.
And going into the final term leading by a point it appeared a third straight victory was on the cards for the yellow and black.
It wasn't to be, however, Leongatha kicking 4.4 to 3.0 to prevail 12.11 (83) to 11.8 (74) and escape a second defeat in as many weeks.
Escape might be a decent word for the Parrots' Houdini act after they trailed for much of the day and by as much as 20 points midway through the third quarter.
But one thing you can count on when it comes to Leongatha is to never count them out.
Their veterans stepped up to the plate, namely Cade Maskell, Tom Marriott and Aaron Heppell.
A late flurry, including two last quarter goals to Jenson Garnham, ensured the Parrots retained their four-point buffer inside the top three.
It's been a weird few weeks for the Tigers – their biggest loss has been 12 points. A couple more goals here and there and they could be undefeated on five wins right now. Instead they're three and two and scrapping to get back into the top five.
Leongatha were best served by Maskell, Timothy Sauvarin, Marriott, Heppell, Nicholas Argento and Benjamin Harding.
Morwell's top contributors were Harrison McColl, Joshua Galea, Boyd Bailey, Burkeley Macfarlane, Isaac Abas and Anthony Rosato.
Sale vs Wonthaggi
Wonthaggi kept their season rolling along while putting another major dent in Sale's with a 31-point win on the Magpies' home turf.
The Power were able to shake off a persistent opposition after half time courtesy of seven goals to three across the third and fourth quarters.
The 10.12 (72) to 6.5 (41) result sees Wonthaggi retain second spot on the ladder and sees Sale in some dire straits at one and four.
Having put in a few shockers this year there was no doubting the effort from the boys in black and white this time around. Their execution? Not so much.
The Magpies struggled to impact the scoreboard as the Power began to fire up, registering no score in the third term and flattering the scoreboard a little with some consolation prizes in the fourth.
With Moe looming this week finals now appear a world away from a team that has been thereabouts for a long time without reward.
Former Collingwood Magpie Isaac Chugg was the main star for Wonthaggi, along with Fergus O'Connor, Jai Williams, Kaj Patterson, Jasper Shone and Noah Anderson.
Sale's better players included Tyson Dobson, Will and Jack Leslie, Lachie Ronchi, Shannen Lange and Benjamin Hall.
Bairnsdale vs Maffra
It was a tale of two halves at Bairnsdale City Oval as the Redlegs held off a fast-finishing Maffra to go a game clear inside the top five.
The Redlegs kept the Eagles goalless for the entire first half of their 11.9 (75) to 6.14 (50) win before the visitors fought back, kicking six goals to three past the major break.
Accuracy ultimately cruelled their efforts at an unlikely comeback, the Eagles finishing the day with the same number of scoring shots as their opposition.
It means Bairnsdale have now won three of their last four games in a solid run of form for a team searching for their first finals appearance since 2014.
Will Mitchell again seemed to bring his own footy, the ball magnet surely wearing out his name for commentators by now.
Tyran Rees (two goals), Tate Clay, Jamie Dore, Lachlan Cloak and Cooper Harvey were all similarly instrumental for the home side.
The ups and downs of a rebuild are on display for Maffra, who couldn't quite follow up their stunning upset win over Traralgon last week.
James Read, Jett Killoran, Harper Walker, Noah Christy, Zach Felsbourg and Daniel Bedggood were their best.
Moe vs Drouin
Sometimes if you want to climb, you have to find out how far away you are from the top. For Drouin that message was received loud and clear on Saturday after they were utterly obliterated away from home by Moe.
The Hawks could do nothing to stop the wave of momentum against them from the rampaging Lions, overwhelmed and outmatched from the word go in a brutal 8.6 (54) to 28.16 (184) defeat.
Lion Ben Crocker again had an appetite for destruction, booting eight goals to take his season tally to 27 from five games.
The Hawks had no answers for the former Collingwood and Adelaide forward, with Crocker beating anyone they threw at him.
Crocker's efforts inside 50 were symbolic of how the day went in general. While he was dobbing them from just about anywhere, benefitting from some slick ball movement from his teammates, the Hawks had to struggle and fight for any reward.
The day broke a few records for Moe, including their highest score and largest winning margin ever against Drouin. Crocker's haul was also the most goals kicked by a Lion against the Hawks.
A bout of flu running through Drouin during the week certainly didn't help their case, but against a team vying for the flag there wasn't much the Hawks could have done anyway.
Drouin lost the disposal count 314-442, the inside 50s 29-68 and clearances 38-46.
Brothers Aden (43 disposals) and Kye Quirk (31 disposals) again led from the front for the visitors, the former especially putting his head over the ball to win 11 clearances against a quality opposition.
Junior player Max Williames showed some good signs through the middle and up forward, setting up a couple of goals and breaking tackles.
Seb Amoroso fought hard as always, Zach McMillan played in just about every position on the ground and Riley Wierzbicki competed well in the ruck despite giving away a fair bit of height against Moe big man Chris Prowse. Moe’s Brock Smith reigned supreme for the home side, putting in a best on ground performance off half back and through the midfield.
Justin Morrow (five goals) and Harrison Sim were big factors in the Lions' ability to punish their opposition's mistakes. Callum Nash and Nick Prowse also were standouts on a day where Moe didn't have many losers.
The Lions set the tone early with a powerful first quarter display that saw them kick six goals to one.
A quickfire major to Myles Poholke was soon answered by Zach McMillan putting one through from close range, but thereafter it was one-way traffic as the home side clicked into gear.
The ability to hit their kicks going forward was a real standout for the Lions, showing the Hawks how it's done.
Moe had 11 in the bag before Wiercbicki could put through another for the visitors with Morrow and Moe swingman Declan Keilty (four goals) giving some serious headaches to the Drouin defence.
Some decent patches of play showed the exuberance of Drouin's youth despite Moe owning the day.
Starting essentially from square one was always going to be a tough prospect for the Hawks. They took to the field on Saturday with an average age of 20.7 and are pretty bereft of experienced veterans.
Moe, meanwhile, are absolutely humming in their hunt for a drought-breaking premiership.
Drouin coach Leigh Horsburgh was looking for the silver linings after a difficult day.
"I think we were actually alright at times, they're just really bloody good," he said.
"They've got great players everywhere. We were trying to do similar things to them but our execution was nowhere near as good. It was a good experience for our boys."
The next two weeks don't look too attractive for the Hawks, with Traralgon and Leongatha looming on the horizon.
With any luck they can limit the pain that might be coming their way.
Traralgon vs Warragul
It was a tough day at the office for Warragul on Saturday as they were handily beaten in a fiery and at times spiteful contest by Traralgon.
The Maroons were in control from the outset, booting five of the first six goals to set up a cruisy day on the scoreboard, despite some tension on the field.
Neither side minds a bit of biff and things threatened to spill over at times, with words being exchanged even after the final siren.
Much of that centred around a fourth quarter incident involving Traralgon superstar Tye Hourigan, who collected Vinnie Caia after the Gull had gotten a handball away, requiring Caia to be taken from the field by trainers and ending his day early.
Hourigan was not reported at the time and no free kick was paid but league officials have said the incident is under review, leaving the Maroons skipper with a stressful few days to look forward to.
Caia was later seen walking around the Warragul rooms in good spirits.
The 8.12 (60) to 17.16 (118) defeat sees the Gulls slip to seventh on the table with consecutive losses for the first time this year
It's the third time a slow start has cost them this year, their poor first half largely to blame for a game where the margin never dropped below 30 points after quarter time.
Cheap turnovers came back to haunt the visitors, the Maroons getting their run and gun offence back in order following their shock loss to Maffra last week.
Traralgon's success was somewhat marred by some injury troubles throughout the day with the Maroons left with just one healthy player on the bench by the final term.
Several missing players from the starting line-up the Gulls' case either, including star midfielder Tom Hobbs, who was out due to a wedding.
Among the Warragul players who could hold their heads high was Senini, the young gun putting his body on the line all day, including in the final term when some friendly fire saw him leave the ground worse for wear.
Defender Sean Masterson fought hard, taking on a sort of tagging role on Hourigan at times to limit his effectiveness. Tom Stern presented well as a forward and Kai MacLean impressed, while Alby Phillips and James Harrison were also solid.
Traralgon enjoyed an excellent performance in defence from the versatile Tristen Waack, who used his wheels to reach contest after contest in the air.
Jackson McMahon and Liam Willaton were able to put their skills to use to hurt the Gulls on the outside, Luis D'Angelo did plenty of damage through the middle, Jordan Cunico played well and Hourigan was able to impact despite the close checking.
Knowing how important a good start would be to their chances against the reigning premiers, Warragul wouldn't have been happy with how the first quarter ended up.
Traralgon were switched on from the outset, pouncing on the Gulls errors as they piled up, switching from the wings to the corridor in an instant to give their forwards ample space and time.
Accuracy was their main enemy, a much larger quarter time on offer had they converted better than their 5.9 for the term. Dylan Loprese was one of the main offenders as he finished the day with a three-goal haul that could have been at least five.
In a worrying sign for Warragul their one goal of the term probably shouldn't have even happened, a rolling dribble from Isaac Wallace in the pocket being called good by the goal umpire despite Mitch Membrey seemingly getting a hand on it well before the line.
A set shot goal from Zac Stewart had the visitors off to a better start in the second only for the Maroons to respond in term through Kade Ruyters.
McMahon curled through a beautiful checkside goal from deep in the pocket not long after and it was getting pretty clear this wasn't going to be Warragul's day.
Trailing by 46 at the half Warragul finally clicked into gear in the third, putting together their best patch of footy for the day.
Pressure was suddenly at the forefront of their game and although they didn't make the most of their chances it had them running the Maroons off their feet, at least for a little bit.
Brayden Fowler, Luke Garner – with a brilliant dribbler from the boundary – and Caleb McIntosh saluted on the scoreboard, Cooper Brown booting the only Traralgon goal for the term as the Maroons were decimated by injury.
Despite their positive work, however, it was undone in the last as the Maroons pulled away again, driving through five goals to one despite the advantage in numbers.
Tensions threatened to boil over late, a very vocal group of Traralgon fourths and thirds players on the sidelines not helping Warragul's mood, but it mattered little to the overall result.
Warragul coach Jed Lamb described it as "a tough day."
"When we were in the fight we looked really good but just the efficiency going forward let us down. Overall some positives came out of the game but definitely a bit of feeling in it," he said.
"That's the most frustrating bit...our good's really good. When we match it in the contest and the spread and defend really well then we play a good brand of footy."
Lamb added that some of the verbal barbs between the teams wouldn't be forgotten anytime soon.
"We'll put that in the memory bank, that's for sure."
