Desi Barr was among Warragul’s best in their upset win over Traralgon on Saturday.THERE were upsets galore in the opening round of the WGLFL when the four more fancied teams were toppled.
One wag in the crowd at Sale on Sunday summed it up perfectly, saying it would have been easier to pick the Randwick quadrella than all the winners in the opening round.
Some results defied logic and that was the case with Warragul, last season’s cellardweller, which knocked off the premier Traralgon by 22 points in the first boilover of the season.
The Gulls, who held a narrow lead at halftime, were expected to fall away in the second half but they had other ideas and drew further in front with seven goals to five in the second half.
Despite being sidelined for 15 minutes in the first quarter when he rolled his ankle, Warragul’s Buln Buln recruit Matt Gray underlined his value with a dominant performance in the ruck and around the ground.
Classy South Fremantle recruit Leigh Sheehan, Des Barr and Nick Edney controlled the midfield takeaways and willo’thewisp forward Kael Bergels was at his predatory best, netting five goals.
Youngsters David ScottSmith and Daniel Golding showed they were coming of age with disciplined games in defence.
For Traralgon, Leigh Cummins won plenty of possessions and Dane McGennisken used his body strength to good advantage to be the Maroons’ best forward.
It was Warragul’s first victory over Traralgon since 1994.
Drouin surprised Moe.
The Hawks kicked with the wind in the first quarter and established a 27point lead at quartertime.
The Lions rallied in the second quarter but thereafter, every time the visitors challenged, the home side had all the answers.
The match was infused with tension in the last quarter when Moe pegged back a 27point threequartertime deficit to only four but goals by Matt Derrick and Drouin captaincoach Danny Murphy steadied the Hawks, who went on to win by 10 points.
Malcolm Dow created plenty of opportunities and teased the Lion defence with his searing pace around the packs.
With strong marking and crumbing by Marc Olsen and Jordan Edwards and Highett recruit Shane Mooney the Hawks’ unheralded threepronged attack produced the goods.
Cam Wallace across halfforward and Kent Edwards across halfback provided bullocking strength at the stoppages and Brendan Butler returned to the senior lineup after two years sidelined with a knee reconstruction, producing a solid effort to restrict Jason Shields to three goals.
Moe’s assistant coach Dean Caldow was the organising general of the defence, stopping countless attacks and kicked two goals when moved forward in the last quarter.
Hardworking captain Chris Smogavec and halfback Peter Ainsworth were their reliable selves and the 2005 league under17 best and fairest Brad Wedrowicz showed he was an emerging talent, winning plenty of possessions midfield.
Chris Hancock had a terrific duel in the ruck with Bob McCallum and honours were split.
Leongatha defeated Morwell by five points but, despite the close margin, the Parrots were never headed.
Leongatha skipped away to a 32point halftime lead with five goals to one in the second quarter.
With five unanswered goals in the third quarter the Tigers appeared to be making their move but the effort died in the last quarter and the Parrots held on frantically to their narrow lead for the last five minutes in a quarter that went 33 minutes.
On Sunday, in front of a large crowd, Sale stunned Maffra in a bruising, highscoring encounter.
The Magpies got a dream start, scoring six goals inside the first 15 minutes to open up a 38point lead before the Eagles had scored.
New recruits Jacob Schuback and Chris Laverty led the way with the opening two goals of the game and then Nick Fowler turned on an exhibition with strong leading and marking to snare another three before the first change.
Credit must go to Maffra, which looked set for a flogging but worked its way back into the game.
The Eagles came home in a big last quarter but came up eight points short, never looking a serious threat.
