Beached, but Gulls will fly again

By Ken Moore
WARRAGUL succumbed to Sale by
39 points, but there were a lot of posi
tives to emerge from their performance
as the young Gulls showed a big
improvement and far more composure
and spirit than in the first round against
Morwell.
Half back Joel Morgan, appointed
vice-captain over summer, has relished
his new leadership role and stepped up
again with another fine game, spoiling
many opposition attacks and often turn
ing defence into attack.
As usual, mobile ruckman Matt Gray
and classy centreman Ryan Davey did
their utmost to keep the Gulls in the
game and were well supported by up
and coming defenders Darcy Brown and
Brad Hamilton. Another youngster,
Calum Shiels, hauled in a number of
good marks and utility Bryce Monahan
put his body into many contests and did
well at both ends of the field.
Burly Sale forward Brenton Martin,
who returned to the Magpies after play
ing in a premiership with Nilma Darnum
last year, was the star of the game, lead
ing and marking strongly. Quite incredi
bly, he kicked 10 straight goals to unani
mously earn the best on field honours.
Stratford recruit Jarryd Clohesy showed
he was a handy addition, with plenty of
touches deep in defence, while fleet-foot
ed wingman Jason Garrett propelled the
ball forward on a regular basis and for
mer Carlton rookie Craig Flint per
formed solidly at centre-half-back.
Eagles soar
Reigning premiers Maffra won with
out too much fuss against Moe. The
Eagles extended their lead in every
quarter and went on to win by 69 points.
Precise kicking from the likes of Hayden
Burgiel, Ben Batalha and Ben Rathnow
exposed the gulf between the sides.
Tall utility Daniel Stubbe, in attack
and in the ruck, played a big role in the
Eagles victory and Adrian Burgiel, with
five goals, often threatened to take the
game by the scruff of the neck. The
Lions were well served by slightly built
Hill End recruit and 2009 best and
fairest Jacob Wood, who won plenty of
the ball midfield while rover James
Blaser, back from the Casey Scorpions,
was always close to the action. It is going
to take a good side to beat Maffra.
Maroons dominate
Traralgon recorded a 65-point victo
ry over league newcomers Wonthaggi,
however, the Power were far more com
petitive than the scoreboard indicated.
The end margin blew out in the last
term when last season’s runners-up
scored five majors and held Wonthaggi
to a point. Tim Aitken starred for the
Maroons with eight goals, defender
Matt Jones, onballer Dan Campbell and
tall utility Dan McKenna, back from AFL
team Geelong, acquitted himself well in
defence and in attack.
Wonthaggi’s best included Inverloch
recruit Andrew Seccull, while rugged
Longwarry recruit Ray Ablett was regu
larly in the thick of the action and
Yarram’s 2007 premiership coach Ryan
Underwood was a driving force through
the midfield.
Tigers shine
Morwell accounted for Leongatha by
43 points under lights on Saturday night.
The Tigers hit the ground running
with seven opening quarter goals to take
a 23-point advantage into the first
change but the Parrots lifted and
matched the Tigers over the next two
quarters before Morwell snuck away in
the last term.
New Morwell coach Adrian Cox led
by example and received fine midfield
support from the hard-running Adam
Bailey, Devon Soutar and Liam Visser.
For Leongatha, agile ruckman Justin
Sutherland dominated the centre clear
ances, Sam Marriot, a runner up in the
Parrots under/18’s best and fairest last
season played a fine game and St Mary’s
recruit Jason Casey did not go unnoticed
with some handy disposals.
Dwayne Holt managed to snare five
goals, despite close attention from Jason
Stevens, while Matt Willcocks, up from
the thirds, did not look out of place in
the seniors, where he notched four
goals.
Drouin had the bye in round two.