By Ken Moore
LEONGATHA booked a finals appearance with a 19-point victory over Drouin on Saturday.
On the other hand, Drouin, playing at home, missed a golden opportunity to consolidate a spot in the top five.
After an even first quarter the Hawks drew clear and led by 15 points at half-time, but did not bargain on a nine-goal second half by the Parrots, who, after a mid-season slump have returned to the form that saw them make a stellar start to the season.
Half-backs Brad Rayson and Adam Govers were superb all game, the latter getting more than 40 possessions.
Ruckman Justin Sutherland was never too far away from the action and produced a number of thumping knocks and Clint Johnston, after playing forward for a good deal of the season, anchored the defence and took a number of telling marks.
Hayden Browne showed he was making a steady recovery from a leg injury with solid game and a feature of his efforts was his good delivery.
Top-drawer recruit Dwayne Holt hauled in a number of strong marks and snagged six goals and if he kicked accurately could have been a double-figure return.
Rhett Kelly tagged Malcolm Dowe and curbed the Hawk playmaker’s drive.
Under pressure, Drouin coughed up the ball far too much.
As usual, ball magnet Andy Soumilas racked up possessions at will, Damian Carmody played all over the ground and had a run in the ruck and was valuable all afternoon.
Troy Kneebone’s body strength assisted him to steer through four goals, which included a few from around the 50-metre arc and Pat McGrath and Chris Dunne regularly poised problems for the Parrot midfield.
Pagan’s touch lifts Lions
A mentoring session by former AFL coach Denis Pagan produced an impressive result for Moe on Saturday.
The session featured the theme of teamwork and Moe got back on the winning list after three successive losses with a 49-point victory over a disappointing Warragul.
The Lions opened well and dominated possession early, but only held a 14-point lead at quarter time before it turned its ascendancy into goals in the second quarter to take a 27-point lead at half-time.
Star Lion forward Matt Forys proved a handful with six goals and had a welter of top players in support led by ruck-rover Rob Michaelidis, Tommy Long, defender Ash Payne and on-baller Phil Town.
Former Gippsland Power tall Andrew Petrou, who crossed from Moe over summer, assumed the ruck duties after Chris Hancock was injured early and showed he had plenty to offer.
Chris Smogavec, in his 251st game and a club record, floated around the forward line with intent and burly utility Adam Kennedy was handy in his 100th game.
Warragul started tentatively and things got worse from then on.
The Gulls are not playing with the cohesion and instinctiveness they have displayed in recent seasons and their form is difficult to follow.
Star Warragul centreman Ryan Davey was concussed early and without his run and drive the Gulls struggled midfield.
In the face of many attacks, Tim Keily rendered plenty of assistance down back and received handy support from central defender Damian Rhind and half-back Joel Morgan.
Up forward Tommy Johnson was dangerous and assistant coach Leigh Sheehan was the best of a below-par midfield.
Warragul sits in sixth spot and can only displace Drouin to make the finals and with an inferior percentage will need to beat both Sale in round 17 and Morwell in round 18 and rely on Drouin to lose to Maffra in the last round to make it.
However, on form all season the Gulls have not shown enough to suggest they are a legitimate premiership contender.
Depleted Maroons a threat
TRARALGON is injury riddled at the moment with around ten senior players sidelined, but it still had enough talent to maintain its lofty ladder position with a 65-point victory over Sale.
The Magpies were competitive in the first quarter, but from then on the Maroon runners lead by Michael Geary, in his 100th game, Jamie Aitken and debutants and twins, Hayden and Damien Hector, both under-16 Victorian Country representatives all controlled the midfield.
The latter two, in particular, were super impressive and not daunted by mixing it with the big boys and are names we will hear plenty more in the upcoming years.
Medium sized forward Michael Cooper took a number of good grabs and booted five goals and ruckman Rohan Hore triggered many attacks.
Sale’s Nick Fowler scored three goals, but few other Magpie forwards fired.
In the face of repeated advances, Magpie back-pockets Liam Hogan and Luke Bates played with their usual resolve, half-back Andrew Quirk and centre half-back and change ruckman Toby Leeds soldiered on and wingman Tom Hams and Jason Garrett sharked plenty of the ball.
Eagles tame Tigers
MAFFRA had a predictable 31-point victory over Morwell.
The Eagles set up victory in the second quarter when they extended their 11-point quarter-time lead into a formidable 38-point lead at the main break.
The Tigers tried hard to peg back the margin in the second half and scored seven goals, but the Eagles were never truly threatened.
Coming off the back of 11 goals last week, star utility Daniel Stubbe added another six and Adrian Burgiel banished any doubts about his fitness with four goals.
The on-ball division of Craig Robbins, Matt Lee, Ben Durrant, Gary Jones and half-back Josh Stubbe knocked up getting possessions and tall Gippsland Power star John Butcher, widely touted to be a first-round AFL draft pick this year took more than ten marks across the forward line in his senior debut.
Morwell defender Jack Brown repelled many attacks, midfield Liam Visser, Adam Bailey and Jim Dowling offered plenty of the resistance, especially after half-time, while ruckman Luke Norder made his presence felt and Ty Stanistreet was the best of the Tiger forwards.
