By Nicholas Duck
Another week, another upset as an up and coming side once again proved they'll be a handful for years to come in the Gippsland League.
Here's what you might have missed this week.
Maffra vs Traralgon
They've done it again.
Maffra added another scalp to their tally for the season after bringing down top five team Traralgon to the tune of 11 points.
Despite coming into the clash in some indifferent form the Eagles recaptured some of their fearsome best, especially on the defensive end, to slowly strangle the visitors into submission 9.10 (64) to 6.17 (53).
The Eagles trailed by 16 points at half time but through their own defensive nous – coupled with some horrendous goalkicking from their opposition – were able to work their way on top thanks to seven second half goals to Traralgon's two.
It's the second time in as many seasons Maffra has toppled Traralgon at home following last year's shock upset, with the Maffra Recreation Reserve quickly becoming a very unwelcoming place for the Maroons.
Seth Smith booted four goals for the victors, three of them after half time, while Traralgon could only muster a handful of single goalscorers.
Alex Carr, Thomas Phillips, Ryan Phelan, Noah Christy, Jack McQuillen and Danny Butcher were Maffra's main standouts, and while the Eagles won't feature in finals they have a good base to build on for next year.
The result matters little for the Maroons, who at this point are locked in at fifth, but after last week's sterling win over Warragul it'll be a dent for their confidence heading into finals.
Tye Hourigan, Matthew Northe, Joel Scholtes, Liam Willaton, Luis D'Angelo and Connor Ambler were their better performers.
Bairnsdale vs Moe
A fourth quarter blitz allowed Moe to leave Bairnsdale for dust late, claiming a 57-point win that belies just how close things were earlier in the day.
The ladder leaders led by a solitary point at half time and a still gettable 21 at the final change of ends before shifting gears in the last, slamming home nine goals to three en route to a 20.13 (133) to 12.4 (76) pounding.
The Redlegs did well to keep pace for a lot of the day given the quality of their opposition and were at the very least making their chances count.
Unfortunately for them their lapses have cost them this season and the effort it took to stay with the Lions took its toll late.
Myles Poholke starred once again for Moe, now further up the ground thanks to Ben Crocker's return.
Poholke's redeployment in the middle will likely cost him the league leading goalkicker award should he stay there – not that it'll matter if they win a flag.
The Lions' height inside 50 caused headaches all day as Riley D'Arcy (six goals) and Nick Prowse (five) feasted on the Bairnsdale defence, while Harry Pepper (four) also filled his boots.
Brock Smith and Jordan Shields were the other Lions to impress.
The Redlegs had a more even spread of goalkickers as nobody kicked more than two, with Jonah Walker, Cooper Vickery, Oscar Morrison, Tyran Rees, Jamie Dore and Cooper Harvey their best.
Wonthaggi vs Sale
Horrific ground conditions weren't enough to stop Wonthaggi from piling on the pain against Sale.
The Wonthaggi Recreation Reserve has certainly seen better days as mud and holes littered its surface, but it was always unlikely to change the result - the Power marched on 18.20 (138) to 2.3 (15).
Inaccuracy stopped the margin from blowing out even further, though there was no stopping the league's second-placed side from demolishing its bottom one.
The Power booted six unanswered goals in the opening term to set up their day.
Joshua Bates, Bryce Joyce, Aiden Lindsay, Isaac Chugg, Jasper Shone and Sam Carter all played well and Cooper McInnes led the scoring with five majors.
Kaden Mcculloch, Darcy Van der Voort, Ashton Wright, Thomas Glenn, Adam Wallace and Thomas Wrigglesworth kept up the effort for Sale, who must be really looking forward to the end of the season.
Morwell vs Drouin
Drouin has secured back-to-back wins for the first time since 2024 having grinding out a 25-point victory against Morwell.
After playing out a defensive first half the game at Morwell Recreation Reserve opened up for the Hawks, who put their running power to good use and put the Tigers to the sword.
Eight second half goals to five ultimately allowed Drouin to prevail 13.15 (93) to 10.8 (68), handing them their fourth win of the season - equalling their tally from 2024.
It also sees them avenge their 48-point loss to the Tigers earlier this season.
The Hawks looked to make the most of their offensive potency the longer the day wore on, putting speed on the ball and giving their forwards genuine one-on-ones whenever the opportunity presented.
Morwell may have knocked off Leongatha a couple of weeks ago, but in a shootout their lack of offensive firepower came back to bite them. Not helping their case was a first quarter injury to midfielder Tyler Hillier, who spent the rest of the day on the sidelines.
With their opponents tiring the Hawks hit hard, breaking away in the third and kicking the first two goals of the fourth quarter to seal a famous win.
Brodie Atkins was at his bullocking best through the midfield to earn top honours for the Hawks. Atkins has had a brilliant season in the middle and Saturday was no different, taking it right up to some much more experienced bodies and kicking a vital goal early in the fourth quarter.
Seb Amoroso was again his partner in crime, hunting the footy with a hunger few other players can match.
Ruck Denver Lund played a brilliant hand in the middle, battling Morwell big man Isaac Abas and winning more than his fair share of hit outs.
Ewan Croucher racked up intercepts for fun, Caleb Kleeven provided drive off half back and Kaden Gregg ran relentlessly across half forward to round out Drouin's best on a day where they had plenty of winners.
Morwell's top performer was Max Linton, the rangy forward flying high to try and get his team going even as the scoreboard went against them.
Blake Couling and Campbell Blewett battled hard all game, as Michael Duncan, Eric Porigneaux and Sam Gissara had their moments.
The teams went blow for blow for much of the first half in what proved to be a fairly even contest.
Lachlan Patterson got proceedings underway via a set shot before Rylie Baker swung around to snap through Drouin's first.
Max Linton and Noah Lafrantz (four goals) got involved as the teams could hardly be separated at quarter time.
Tigers senior debutant Rileigh O'Neill booted two in a minute to begin the second term and put his team on top, only for Lafrantz to respond with a pair of his own, the second of which a brilliant effort that saw him smother a kick across Morwell's half back, collect and dribble it through just inside 50.
The ebb and flow continued early in the second, a horrific turnover allowing Gissara to run in an easy one until consecutive goals to Amoroso and Drouin coach Jordan Kingi restored the Hawks' lead.
Isaac Caroleo got one back for the Tigers but consecutive majors to Baker ensured the Hawks had taken control at the final break.
With the game up for grabs up stepped Atkins, who had a ping from the pocket that pierced through the posts, making the Hawks positively pumped.
And when Lafrantz took advantage after a free to waltz in another, the margin stood at 30 points and the game was just about done.
Speaking post-game, Kingi, who the club announced has re-signed for the 2027 season, was "really pleased" by his side's second half.
"I said to the boys pre-game we just had to make sure we weren't out of it by quarter time. We knew the game would open up if we could just grind away early," he said.
"We made sure we stopped their contest and their ability to move the footy out of the contest.
"Our good players stood up but also we didn't really have a weak link."
Kingi said the improvement his side had shown as the year progressed had been great to see.
"I reckon that's probably the closest we've played to four quarters all year. It's a credit to the boys, it's taken 16 rounds but we're finally clicking for longer," he said.
"What we're doing works and now we're starting to believe it."
Leongatha vs Warragul
Warragul has slipped out of the top three for the first time this season following a dour 20-point defeat to Leongatha away from home.
In what loomed as a proverbial 'eight-point game' the Gulls struggled to get much momentum going up forward until it was too late and the game was already gone.
Held to just 3.2 to three quarter time Warragul threw caution to the wind in the last, cutting a 40-point deficit back to 15 with time to spare.
In the end the hill was too big to climb, Warragul outdone 8.4 (52) to 10.12 (72).
The third term in particular came back to haunt the Gulls as they wilted under intense Parrot pressure, making poor decisions with ball in hand and being unable to move it with much fluency.
They scored one behind in the proverbial premiership quarter as opposed to Leongatha's 3.3, which in a low scoring contest was enough to seal their fate.
Now outside the top three and significantly behind the Parrots percentage-wise it's going to take something special if they want to avoid an elimination final against Traralgon.
Playing well for the visitors was young Xavier Olsson, whose classy ball use stood out when some of his teammates panicked.
Liam Serong provided plenty through the midfield and in the air as a marking target while Alby Phillips did well in a run-with role, namely following Parrots star Kim Drew.
Tom Hobbs battled and broke the shackles late to get his hands on the footy as Vinnie Caia and Jake Hughes did what they could.
Leongatha was best served by Patrick Ireland, who was deployed in the backline after Cade Maskell was a late out. Ireland's aerial prowess was put to good use in defence as he denied his former club again and again.
In fact, ex-Warragul players were a real theme among the Parrots' top performers, as midfield bull Kim Drew and tall Fraser Phillips were both immense. Makes you wonder what the Gulls could be if they had them at their disposal.
Ruck Jack Sheridan played a strong hand in his battle against Gull Sam Whibley as Tom Marriott and Nick Argento rounded out the green and gold's best. The Parrots also enjoyed another solid showing by former Essendon captain Dyson Heppell, who they'll be hoping to qualify for finals in the season's final rounds.
Leongatha enjoyed the ascendancy in the territory battle early and kicked the day's first through Jenson Garnham, but couldn't make their chances count as a costly turnover going into the corridor ended in a Jed Lamb goal.
Ben Fort steered one through before quarter time to extend Leongatha's advantage, which only grew after Zavier Lamers did the same to open the second term.
The Parrots continued to press, boxing Warragul in until a long bomb from Vinnie Caia cleared the pack and bounced through.
Phillips dobbed a beauty on the run shortly before the half time break as some push and shove broke out, the Parrots heading into the sheds 14 up.
Leongatha's tackling pressure and intensity around the footy grew exponentially in the third term, pushing the opposition into a plethora of poor decisions.
The Gulls' panic was exemplified when a kick from full back was intercepted, allowing Marriott to walk into an open goal for one of three Parrots majors for the term.
Warragul coach Gary Ayres was a frustrated figure on the bench, shaking his head on many occasions and letting his troops know how unhappy he was at three quarter time.
After the margin ballooned to 40 in the fourth quarter Warragul finally managed to rally some momentum, kicking four straight as they went direct and long.
Serong, Matt Gray, Jack Casson and Lamb all found the big sticks, cutting the deficit back to a gettable 15 points. Lamb's was especially impressive, shrugging off multiple tacklers and snapping in the pocket.
Just as belief began to rise, however, the Parrots found the circuit breaker, punishing Warragul for some loose disposals and letting Garnham waltz in the sealer.
Speaking post-game, Ayres said he wasn't too upset by the first half, saying "by and large" the Gulls were heading in the right direction.
"I just thought we allowed them a couple of minutes of momentum that they then hit the scoreboard in," he said.
The third quarter, however, was a different story.
"In the third I thought we could not hit up a short kick. We kicked it to someone under pressure or it dropped short or it went over their heads. I think I counted there at one stage in the third we had the ball seven times and we gave it back seven times.
"One error should not lead to two then to three then to four."
Warragul will host top team Moe this Saturday, with anything other than a win all but sealing them outside the top three.
