Narre Warren young gun Brendan Kimber looks to drive his team forward with support from team mate Clay Peresso.By Brad Kingsbury
NARRE Warren showed Tooradin exactly what was required to become a genuine premiership contender with a 79point blitzing at Fox Road on Saturday.
The Seagulls took it up to their highly fancied opponents for the first half and stayed with them in the third term, but the Magpies lifted significantly in the last quarter, booting 11 goals to two and overpowering their opponents with sustained physical pressure.
Magpie forwards Shane Brewster and Lee Clark provided the firepower in attack, sharing 11 goals for the afternoon, while Narre Warren’s young midfielders outran their more experienced opponents to provide opportunities.
Narre Warren was without coach Aussie Jones, Ricky Clark, Daniel Field and Jesse Edmond, with teenaged forward Darren Sheen also missing after being selected for the Dandenong Stingrays.
The first half was competitive with the Seagulls taking advantage of the wind to lead by eight points at quarter time and the Magpies doing likewise in the second term to take a 14point advantage into the long break.
Young Magpie midfielders Michael McGill, Shane Brewster and Brendan Kimber worked their way on top in the third term and the Magpies went out to a 27point lead at the final change.
The wind dropped in the final term, but the Magpies’ intensity did not and despite stout efforts from Tooradin’s Tom O’Loughlin, Beau Miller and coach Dan O’Loughlin, the game became a oneway procession.
Dan O’Loughlin lamented the loss, saying that his players learned a hard lesson.
“It gave us a good appreciation about where we have to get to,” he said.
“They just absolutely massacred us in the last quarter. I’m realistic and at some stage we were going to get beaten, but the way it happened was unacceptable.
“Maybe it was fitness. The heavy ground took its toll on us, but we were flatfooted in the last quarter. They’re a fairly physical side and they gradually wore us down.”
Magpies’ assistant coach Steven Kidd praised his players’ fourquarter effort and acknowledged the input of the younger brigade.
“We’re just trying to pride ourselves on putting a lot of pressure on the opposition throughout games. We worked really hard and we knew if we stuck at it we could break them,” he said.
“I don’t think anything really sparked us, but I think we might have had a bit more depth in the midfield and that helped us.
“We’re trying to rotate the guys off the bench and the players have really reacted well to it, especially the young players who have realised the benefit of a rest.”
