Tom Hayes
IT will be tough to imagine the North Gippsland football ladder changing much between now and the end of the home-and-away season.
Perhaps just one change, which should happen by next weekend, but other than that the top five looks set.
At the weekend, North Gippsland partnered with AGL Loy Yang and Mindfull Aus to promote Mental Health Round.
YARRAM’S make or break game resulted in the latter.
Hosting top side Traralgon Tyers United, victory was unlikely yet needed.
The Demons were absolutely nowhere to be seen, failing to make an impression in what appeared to be one of its most important fixtures in 2024, losing 14.18 (102) to 4.5 (29).
Going into the game, Yarram must’ve been aware that defeat would be costly in regard to their finals hopes. And if they weren’t aware beforehand, they well and truly would be now.
The Bombers got out to a 20-point lead during the first term, kicking the exact score that Yarram would conclude on. Little did they know they would only need another point from that stage to win the game.
TTU continued to ascend, adding another 2.5 (17) to the Demons’ 1.1 (7). By this point at halftime, the Bombers’ lead had stretched to five goals.
Knowing that separation at the top of the ladder was in sight, TTU did not hesitate in continuing their run.
The Bombers added another 4.4 (28) to one straight goal in the third, bursting the gates wide open as the margin grew out of proportion.
Now out to 52 points, Yarram might’ve hoped that the margin wouldn’t get much worse, while TTU had other ideas.
TTU matched their third-quarter performance, with another 4.4 (28) in the final term to Yarram’s 1.1 (7) before the final siren blew.
TTU claimed their 13th win of the season in the 73-point smashing, which helped lock the top five in it’s place.
Frazar Brouns was named best-on for the Bombers. Also mentioned was Hayden Willaton, Quinn Sinclair, Trent Hourigan, Michael Jacobsen, and Guy Sinclair.
James Jacobsen and captain Jye Neilson combined for seven goals, the former scoring four.
Matt Clavarino, Dylan Garnham, coach Boadie Motton, Chris Bruns, Jake McFarland, and Jacob Davis were within Yarram’s best for the day. Josh Swift could only add two goals to his tally for the season.
The win puts the Bombers clear on top of the ladder, with a win-loss record of 13-1. As Woodside had the bye, they remain at 12-2. TTU now have a percentage of seven more than the Wildcats.
As for Yarram, is it season over? It certainly looks that way.
The Demons haven’t gotten close to a top five team in the second half of the season, only beating Glengarry and Gormandale since the second half of the home-and-away season resumed.
That run has seen them lose to two sides outside the top five as well, dropping from fourth down to sixth (currently) on the ladder.
The Demons are now a game behind Sale City in fifth, and are still to play the Bulldogs (this weekend) and third-placed Yallourn Yallourn North.
Considering their percentage, they will need to win both to break back into the top five, and considering their form, that appears highly unlikely.
SALE City survived a scare at Stephenson Park.
The Bulldogs fought off a spirited Churchill side, breaking the shackles in the final term to record a 12.16 (88) to 8.12 (60) victory.
Sale City started with all of the momentum, kicking the first two goals of the game with some change, before a late swing in momentum dragged the Cougars back into the game with two goals in the final five minutes.
Despite this, the Bulldog’s behinds had them slightly ahead by three points at the first break.
The home side edged slightly further ahead in the second term, but they were by no means off to the races.
The four-goal to three quarter had the home side up by seven points at the halfway stage, and with plenty of football left to play, the two sides were in for a tough duel in the second half.
Churchill were out of the blocks with haste, finding the lead soon after the conclusion of halftime, putting Sale City on the defensive.
The lead changed hands multiple times before Sale City reclaimed it going into the final change. With just six points up their sleeve, the Bulldogs had led at every quarter, but Churchill’s had just proved they could make something out of nothing.
But Sale City confirmed why they are a threat this season, putting any hopes of a Churchill comeback to bed, kicking 3.8 (26) to four behinds, closing out a comfortable 28-point win in the end.
Cooper Whitehill was named best-on-ground for the Bulldogs. Also highlighted was Chad Evans, Tom Bowman, Jayden Allison, Jaxsyn Whitehill, and Kane Martin (three goals).
Blake Slater was Churchill’s best in defence. He was assisted well by Chris Williams, Ashley Di Ciero, Kurt Holt (three goals), Jordan Fenech, and Tom Sevenson.
As previously mentioned, Sale City are now a game clear of Yarram in sixth, and considering their run home of Yarram and Gormandale, only needing to win one to confirm their progression, you’d say that fifth spot is theirs.
Churchill got close, but not close enough, and such a loss all but mathematically confirmed that they are out of the finals race for 2024.
HEYFIELD hammered Gormandale.
Fighting for third spot on the ladder, the Kangaroos made the leap, following their 27.23 (185) to 2.2 (14) beat down of the Tigers.
It was always going to be a matter of how much when Heyfield travelled to The Boneyard at the weekend.
With a chance to put some pressure on YYN, Heyfield had no hesitations when it came to taking third place for the time being.
The Kangaroos went up by 31 points at quarter time, already setting up a margin exceeding 100 points.
Another seven goals to one in the second term had things out of control at 67 points with a whole half of football to play.
Gormandale had managed to score 2.2 (14) up until this stage, but that would be the last of it.
Heyfield only got better. In the third quarter, the visitors piled on 9.5 (59) to nothing, almost doubling their margin in the space of about 30 minutes.
Ahead by 126 points, they still needed a big last quarter to steal third spot, knowing that YYN would also win big against second-bottom placed Glengarry.
They delivered just that, kicking another 6.9 (45) to nothing in the final term, seeing the margin out to 171 points when the siren sounded.
Kyle Graham was massive for Heyfield booting eight goals, earning him best-on-ground honours. Also in the Kangaroos best was Brayden Woodland, Thomas Marchesi, Tyson Birss, Tyson Graham, and Jack Christian (four goals).
Kodie Owen was best for Gormandale in his 150th game. He was joined by William Flanagan, Flynn Roscoe, Matthew Carstein, Tristan Salerno, and Chris Potalej.
Heyfield jumped over YYN on the ladder into third, but they have the bye this week and will be vulnerable to be overtaken again.
The Kangaroos will be rooting for Churchill to upset the Jets, which will allow them to hold onto third place.
THE Jets recorded a 20-goal win.
The win came with relative ease, but they needed some more out of the win, after dropping to fourth despite it.
YYN were out of the gates best at Fred King Oval, kicking four goals to one in the first term, kicking nine more scores than their counterparts as they went into the first break 24 points to the good.
Inaccuracies began to show, but luckily for the Jets that didn’t matter, kicking 3.9 (27) to one behind.
The margin was 50 points at halftime, with the triple digit margin on the radar, YYN had to get going.
It was again a somewhat quiet term from the visitors, only adding another 3.4 (22) to Glengarry’s three behinds.
At 69 points in front, the Jets were home and hosed, but they needed more for percentage, as Heyfield were bound to win big against Gormandale.
The quarter they had asking for finally arrived, as YYN kicked 8.9 (57) to one straight goal, seeing the margin stop growing once it hit 120 points, thanks to the final siren.
Mitchell Luck kicked five goals and claimed best-on-ground honours. He was joined by James De Virgilio, Darcy Shellcot, Dylan Bath, Jai Massese, and Dylan Bentley as the most prominent.
Leading goal scorer of the NGFNL, Dean Macdonald added three goals to his tally. He is now 10 goals clear of Yarram’s Swift in second.
Declan Massaro, Benjamin Truin, Callum Mitchell, Michael Ryan, and Thomas Harris were stand-outs for the Magpies.
The day was full of celebration for the Magpies despite results not going their way.
Scott Pendlebury wasn’t the only player in black and white to play game 400 last Saturday, as Glengarry celebrated Corey Peck’s 400th game in the reserves earlier.
PLAYING for pride, Rosedale got the chocolates.
With both sides seemingly out of the finals race, there was essentially nothing on the line between the Blues and their visitors, Cowwarr.
Rosedale won easily, kicking 17.19 (121) to 7.5 (47).
It was theirs to lose from the beginning. The Blues were higher on the ladder and had good form against sides lower.
Kicking 4.8 (32) to one straight goal in the opening term was the perfect start. Another 2.2 (14) to 1.1 (7) grew Rosedale’s margin out t 33 points by halftime.
The floodgates finally burst open for the Blues, who added 6.7 (43) in the third quarter. But Cowwarr frequently found their own goals, kicking 3.2 (19) before three quarter time. Nonetheless, the margin was 57 points, and well out of the Saints’ reach.
Rosedale only made it worse for their visitors, kicking 5.2 (32) to 2.3 (15) in the final term to close out the 74-point smashing.
Blake Safstrom was outstanding for the Blues, assisted by Declan Barnett, Harper Fox, Brandon McConnell, Rohan Diamond, and captain Riley Atlee. Spencer Fox kicked four goals.
Jake Brown, Keenan Hughes (three goals), Haydn Hector, Alex Saunders, Matt Johnson, and Rhys Luxford were admirable in defeat.
Rosedale are also mathematically out of the finals race after Sale City’s win. The Blues only have one game left with the bye in Round 18, and they now sit two games outside the top five.
WOODSIDE had the bye.
