By Nick Duck
Another week, another thriller for Morwell in the Gippsland League. Meanwhile, the flag favourites found a bigger challenge than they expected against a team struggling with their form.
Here's what you might have missed this week.
Maffra vs Morwell
Morwell were finally able to reverse their curse in close games as they claimed a three-point thriller over Maffra on Saturday.
After three straight weeks of being on the wrong side of games decided by 12 points or less, the Tigers were able to hold their nerve this time around, kicking four goals to one past half time to prevail 7.8 (50) to 7.5 (47).
Things didn't look like going that way for a while anyway. After feeling each other out early, four consecutive Maffra goals across the first and second quarters had the home team 17 points to the good and looking the superior side.
Not a team to take that lying down, the Tigers found their bite after the main break to take the lead.
An early goal in the final term to Boyd Bailey gave them a buffer, before Archer Watt responded in turn halfway through the quarter. That ended up being the final goal of the day as Morwell held on late for a valuable four points.
They'd be very happy to have not given this one away given their dominance in most of the major statistics. Inside 50s (46-30), contested possessions (140-154) and clearances (48-21) were all heavily weighted towards the Tigers, making it a little odd that it was just a three-point game.
Aidan Quigley starred for the Tigers, along with Boyd Bailey, Isaac Abas, Sam Walsh, Brandon McDonald (three goals) and Burkeley Macfarlane.
The win sees them move back into the top five courtesy of Bairnsdale's loss and could be considered a bit of karmic justice after falling agnonisingly short for so many weeks. After all, they were probably owed one.
Maffra lost the day but certainly not any admirers. Barring their non-showing against Moe they've been more than handful for teams and are on the up.
There was still reason to celebrate with club favourite son Winston Gieschen breaking the Maffra all-time games record in the Eagles' reserves win. That's 285 games of quality footy for anyone keeping track at home.
Their best in the seniors were Danny Butcher, James Read, Thomas Scott, Jack McQuillen, Archer Watt and Jonathan Boyd.
Moe vs Sale
Moe were able to shake off a surprisingly stiff resistance from Sale to register their fourth consecutive win by 34 points.
If the Lions expected to just walk through the struggling Magpies they ended up with a bit of a shock after the Magpies were able to keep pace with them for the entire first half.
Past that point however and coach Leigh Poholke's message must have gotten through, the Lions – and star goalkicker Ben Crocker - too strong in the second half as they won out 15.14 (104) to 10.10 (70).
Crocker thumped through another eight goals for the day, putting him at 35 majors from six games and sitting pretty 17 goals ahead in the league tally.
Recruit Alex Djikstra was outstanding for the Lions, helping them to their eight-goal-to-three second half and showing he truly belongs at the level after years of toiling for Bunyip in the West Gippsland league.
Fellow recruit Nathan Scagliarini also was excellent, as were Scott van Dyk, Trent Baldi, Jacob Balfour and Thomas Murphy.
Sale, who to this point have endured a disappointing year on the field, were far from a pushover as they fought hard to keep in touch at half time, led mostly by their star names.
Running out games has been a real issue for them this year though, and that weakness combined with the general gulf in class between the teams overall led to them falling away as the game wore on.
At one and five their finals hopes would appear all but dashed, but if they can put in more performances like Saturday's they might still give some teams a good shake.
Will Leslie, Jack McLaren, Jack Leslie, Shannen Lange, Jarrod Freeman and Archer Gerrand led the way for them.
Wonthaggi vs Bairnsdale
Wonthaggi ensured Bairnsdale's long trip home would feel that much longer after dismantling them by 44 points.
The Power were pushed at times by a tricky opposition though proved far too strong past half time, keeping the Redlegs to just one second half goal en route to a 13.9 (87) to 6.7 (43) victory.
They won the day in plenty of style too, wearing a special heritage guernsey to mark 20 years of playing as the Power.
Superstar Ryan Sparkes genuinely lived up to the moniker in a phenomenal individual performance, racking up 38 disposals as he booted five goals.
It keeps the Power in second spot as they hunt for a top three finish.
Kaj Patterson, Harry Dawson, Jarryd Blair, Ethan Dickison and Jasper Shone were their other players to feature in the best.
Having now won five straight games, Wonthaggi's next three matches – against Traralgon, Leongatha and Moe – are going to be the real litmus test.
Bairnsdale's better players included Will Mitchell, Ricky Tatnell, Hugh Longbottom, Joshua Lando, Ethan East and Cooper Harvey.
They'll look to keep in touch with the top five as they face up with Sale next week.
Drouin vs Traralgon
It was a case of going from bad to worse for Drouin after they were completely steamrolled by Traralgon on Saturday.
There was nowhere to hide for the Hawks on the wide expanses of the Trafalgar Recreation Reserve, especially after conceding a whopping 10 goals in the first quarter alone.
Coming off a 130-point shellacking to Moe the week before it was hardly the response the young Hawks were after, the final score 8.10 (58) to 28.15 (183).
Drouin were left at the mercy of a mighty Maroons side, particularly by their forward pairing of Tye Hourigan and Dylan Loprese.
Hourigan, who managed to escape a suspension during the week after an incident with Warragul's Vinnie Caia, was an aerial force to be reckoned with around the ground, clunking marks like it was nobody's business and kicking six goals.
Loprese was similarly at his lethal best, taking advantage of Traralgon's slick ball movement off half back to end his day with seven goals.
A lopsided inside 50 count (58-24) ensured the two had plenty of chances coming their way.
The Hawks had their moments of control, particularly a better initial showing in the second term, but struggled to find much reward. Another burst of Maroons majors to end the half ensured the Hawks would be going home with plenty of pain.
Seb Amoroso was best on for the Hawks, winning 25 disposals and kicking four goals to be their most consistently threatening player inside 50.
If not for some questionable delivery at times Amoroso could have easily found himself with a couple more goals as he looks to push his way back into Box Hill's senior side in the VFL.
Caleb, Aden and Kye Quirk all fought hard for the nominal home side and won plenty of touches, even with the run of play well and truly against them, while Ben Brasier and big man Riley Wierzbicki gave solid efforts.
For the visitors, while Hourigan and Loprese were the beneficiaries up forward, a lot of the credit has to go to half back Liam Willaton. Willaton's run and gun style opened the Hawks up on countless occasions, perfectly exemplifying the reigning premiers' style of play that has served them so well. Versatile big man Tristen Waack again showed his wares down back while Luis D'Angelo was a menace in the midfield and Kade Ruyters played well.
From the moment the first ball was bounced it was clear which team had come to play. The difference in experience and talent is one thing, but Drouin's struggles to be accountable for their opponents, particularly Traralgon's ever-dangerous half backs, led to opportunities galore as the Maroons scythed their way through the middle of an oval that suited their plans.
Traralgon thumped through six on the trot to start the day as Hourigan and Loprese ran riot.
The absence of Drouin young gun Kaiden Walmsley was especially felt given he would have been the match-up for Hourigan, the Hawks struggling to find another opponent for the Traralgon superstar that worked.
It wasn't until halfway through the first that Drouin found their first major, and even then the onslaught didn't let up, leaving them 53 points behind after just one quarter.
The Hawks at least get their hands on the ball for much of the second term, putting through a couple of goals without getting full reward.
Traralgon punished them for that wastefulness, firing through five quickfire goals to end the half and leave the young Hawks in some dire straits.
From there the day played out as expected. Some better defensive efforts from Drouin helped keep their opponents from pouring on the scoring quite as heavily, while Traralgon put the cue in the rack to a degree with the four points already in the bag.
Drouin coach Leigh Horsburgh said it was "the worst we've played all year."
"There's some positives in there. If you take out the first quarter and the last 10 minutes of the second we're decently competitive but it is what it is," he said.
"To Traralgon's credit that played really good footy. They executed their gameplan well, they moved it really well,
"To be honest we just need to get better, which to the boys' credit they're showing up, they're showing up to training and wanting to improve and learn. There's still so much positivity from the group."
Drouin will enjoy a week off before a trip away to Parrot Park to face Leongatha. Good thing that won't be too difficult, hey.
Warragul vs Leongatha
Another week, another costly first quarter for Warragul.
Up against one of the league's juggernauts in Leongatha the Gulls were unable to arrest their trend of poor starts at Western Park, conceding five of the first six goals to leave them behind the eight ball early and never able to recover.
The 9.3 (57) to 15.14 (104) loss wasn't without its moments for the home side, who were able to get on a few runs despite never looking like a real threat on the scoreboard.
Leongatha were able to slice the Gulls up with their constant switching of the play, taking the ball from one side of the ground to the other and finding plenty of space.
With the home side struggling to keep up and keep accountable, it led to plenty of clean looks inside 50 - something a team as good as the Parrots won't waste.
Sean Masterson (five contested marks) fought hard under siege for Warragul, the intercepting backman stopping several Leongatha forays forward almost singlehandedly.
Riley Senini and Isaac Wallace were as hard at the ball as always while Sam Whibley enjoyed a good day in the ruck.
Young Alby Phillips again showed his wares and midfield bull Tom Hobbs rounded out the Gulls' best on a tough day at the office.
Leongatha boast plenty of quality around the field and that has only been added to this year with Benjamin Harding, who put on yet another masterclass.
Harding was an absolute ball magnet, racking up 47 disposals as he worked his way into the right spaces with 13 uncontested marks
Veteran Luke Bowman (28 disposals) was at his damaging best as Jenson Garnham (five goals) enjoyed his best day in front of the sticks this season.
The experience of Aaron Heppell and Cade Maskell kept their side ticking along and Travis Nash played a steady hand down back.
In general play the Parrots were just cleaner when it counted, moving the ball nicely on the outside and putting pedal to the metal when they broke clear to leave the Gulls in their wake.
Despite kicking the first goal of the day after a holding free to young forward Tom Stern, Warragul struggled to replicate that success thereafter, Leongatha rebounding out of their defensive 50 nicely to deny them time and time again.
Goals to Garnham, Heppell, Tallin Brill and Zavier Lamers got them off and running, before former Warragul under 18s star Patrick Ireland joined the party with a point-blank major off a spilled marking contest.
It's become a frustrating trend for the Gulls. In their two wins they've started out of the blocks well, but it's been the opposite in their losses.
Their quarter time deficits in defeats have been 34, 25, 31 and 20 points respectively. Hard to have much of a chance when you're chasing so much.
A free kick to Tom Hillard before the first break gave some hope for a Warragul comeback, as did a nice crumbing goal seconds after quarter time to swingman Lucas Carter.
A couple of missed opportunities had the margin back to an even two goals – the closest the Gulls would get for the rest of the day.
Two goals to Heppell and another to Brill got the Parrots' advantage back beyond 30 points at the half, before a pair of Garnham goals to start the third had it teetering into thrashing territory.
In what was Warragul's best patch of the day, however, they were able to end the third with four straight.
Brayden Fowler, Senini, Carter and then Senini again all found paths to goal, largely thanks to the Gulls finally being able to get it forward with some speed and give their players a chance at some even numbers.
It wasn't to last though, the Parrots responding after three quarter time through Garnham, who officially turned a haul into a bag with two more before full time.
Speaking post-game, Masterson said the Gulls needed to stop getting caught out on transition.
"We just don't work hard enough transitioning defensively. It's pretty clear what we need to work on," he said.
Masterson said the club were trying a number of different things pre-game to see if they can solve their first quarter problem.
"We've done a few different things in warm-ups because at the moment we're just not giving ourselves a chance. I'd love to be able to put my finger on it and say why we aren't starting well but we need to work through it."
Now two and four, Warragul are sitting in seventh and a game behind Morwell (fifth) and Bairnsdale (sixth).
If they want to keep in touch with the top five, next week's battle with Maffra looms as critical.
Playing at home, it's one of those 'should win' games they've let slip too many times in recent years.
Can this time be different?
Photo: Photos by Daysy
