By Marcus Uhe
With 13 minutes gone in the final quarter of Gembrook Cockatoo’s contest with Mount Evelyn on Saturday, a 17-point margin in favour of the newcomers in Premier Division meant the contest was in the balance.
Josh Tilly sensed the moment, and took the opportunity to drive a knife into his opponent’s hearts.
The ball spilled free to the dashing midfielder at half-forward, who gathered it on the run and kicked a check-side goal on his right foot as he ran across the face of goal, bouncing through an unguarded goal line and eliciting rapturous applause from the fan base in green huddled in front of the fire near the freshly built facilities.
While the rain stayed away for much of the contest, sprinklings here and there during the four quarters, and fixtures earlier in the day, made for a thick, sodden track at the top of the hills in Gembrook and a heavy ball, adding to the difficulty of the kick from the Brookers’ skipper
While each side kicked one in the remainder of game time, Tilly’s brilliance ultimately proved the sealer as the Premiers of Division One ticked-off a significant milestone for the club: a positive win-loss ledger.
The importance of the result was not lost on anyone, not the least their senior coach Brad Coller, who held them out on the ground after the final siren to recognise the moment.
“I think last year after we won the flag, not many teams would be thinking that we’d be 2-1 after three rounds,” Coller said.
“I looked at the draw and thought that Mount Evelyn and Upwey finished in the lower half (of the ladder).
“Monbulk played finals but I rated our young team to be able to have a good crack at them.
“I was hoping at least to win one or two of them…to be two and one, I’m pretty happy.”
Light rain began to grease Gembrook midway through the opening quarter making the sherrin difficult to handle cleanly, for most.
Michael Firrito’s class shone through like a beacon of light, handling the ball better than most, and firing a handball to Jay Verhagen for his first major of what would become a significant afternoon for the powerful forward.
Mount Evelyn embraced the width of the wide open spaces at Gembrook and looked to switch the play, leading to plenty of shots on goal, but just two majors, as they held a nine-point lead at the first break.
The second quarter saw the heat of the contest intensify like the wood that was burning on the bonfire as the smokey aroma wafted across the arena in a potent reminder that the winter months are only just around the corner.
Six goals were kicked in the opening 15 minutes of the quarter as Gembrook Cockatoo locked the ball in their forward half of the ground.
The ball was in perpetual motion and the players were out on their legs, desperate for a breather on the heavy track.
The Brookers left their forward 50 wide open for the likes of Verhagen and Myles Wareham to battle their opponents one-on-one, but both struggled to find the big sticks kicking to the road end of the ground.
After a few misses, Wareham finally had his first major late in the term, winning a free-kick after a poor tackle from his opponent and kicking a classy snap on his right foot from hard against the boundary line.
They would have been disappointed to not have a more significant lead at the long break, but 11 scoring shots each and a five-point margin felt appropriate for the feel of the contest that boasted a wickedly swinging pendulum.
The third quarter was where Gembrook Cockatoo began to flex their muscle, as Verhagen in particular made his presence felt.
He kicked two, one a long set shot that really stirred some emotion close to where the home fans had congregated, and another where he reaped the rewards of small forward Matt Frazzetto, whose repeated efforts and pressure acts forced a turnover into his powerful forward’s gleefully awaiting hands.
Add to that another to Wareham and the Brookers suddenly held a 24-point lead.
Another two to the visitors cut the lead to 12 at the final break and as the lights came on amid ominous dark clouds overhead, the moment required someone to stand up.
It’s moments like there where it’s clear that Michael Firrito had a footy in his hands for the best part of 13 years during his playing career at North Melbourne.
Despite spending the majority of his time wrestling and wrangling the monsters in his defensive goal square, it’s now at the other end of the ground where he’s making his mark.
When a chain of sweeping handballs from the men in green fell into his lap at the half-forward flank, the man they know as ‘Spud’ snapped truly from 40 for the all-important opening goal of the contest.
Not long after that came Tilly’s goal of a similar manner, and bar Verhagan’s fifth in the dying stages of the game, that was where the action came to a close.
Aside from Tilly and Michael Firrito, their leaders in Dean Smith, Brayden Weller and Aaron Firrito were simply everywhere that their side was needed, consistency winning their one-on-ones and providing the ascendency for their teammates to capitalise on further ahead.
Verhagen, meanwhile, was simply too big and strong for his opponents, continuing to cement the powerful combination with Wareham that proved so successful in 2022.
It was the even spread of contributors that pleased Coller, emphasising the importance of a whole team effort.
“Jay (Verhagen) has been down in the first couple of weeks, but today he kicked five and stood-up,” he said.
“’Spud’ always knows the moment and does what he needs to, when we need it most.
“Plugger (Wareham) was a bit off today with his kicking, but our leaders did stand up.
“Josh (Tilly), Aaron Firrito, Damien Volta, all those guys stood up when we needed it in the last quarter.
“It’s the young guys as well who give that effort on the footy and our pressure was really good around the ball and the ball carrier.
“I think we’re attacking all over the ground.
“We play an offensive style of footy and we have worked a lot on our defensive side over the summer to be able to press teams a little bit more rather than just being all out attack.
“We like that open style of footy and quick ball movement, modern game style.”
They’ll have the opportunity to rest and recover this week before tackling Narre Warren in two weeks time.
But rather than being daunted or overawed with the prospect of facing the benchmark of the competition, there’s a spirit and desire to compete that has the Brookers excited for what’s to come.
“We’ve got a really big test in two weeks playing Narre Warren, but we’re ready for that, we want to have a crack and see where we’re at, and hopefully get some confidence out of it,” Coller said.
“Coming into the season we didn’t expect to be playing finals.
“We want to, but we didn’t want to come in saying that we want to play finals or we want to be competing for a flag.
“Our goal was to be competitive this year and put up a good fight on the footy field for a bit of pride and respect, to build a bit of a reputation and make sure we don’t go down.”
