Sydney overpowered

By Justin Robertson
GIPPSLAND Power mauled a flaccid Greater Western Sydney (GWS) by 118 points in blustery conditions at Shepley Oval, Dandenong, on Saturday.
The game was switched from Casey Fields at the last minute because of its appalling ground conditions, but it had no effect on the Power’s form, leading from the front all day to crush the New South Welshmen by more than 100 points.
Gippsland Power coach, Damian Carroll, said while it was a game he expected to win, he was surprised by the final margin.
“It was a great effort and obviously I’m very happy with the win,” Carroll said. “You are not going to win many games by that much, so we really enjoyed it on the weekend.”
From the opening bounce the Power applied tremendous amounts of defensive pressure, tackling ferociously at every opportunity, which created multiple scoring opportunities. The score at quarter-time read 2.4 (16) to 1.0 (6), in favour of the Power but it could have been leading by a whole lot more.
“We were moderately happy with our effort at the break, we really should have kicked three or four goals without any troubles, but we were kicking into that breeze,” Carroll said.
“I think the score really opened up in the last quarter, I don’t think it was that one-sided throughout the day.”
During the huddle at quarter-time Carroll said he was happy with the first 15 minutes and their tackling – 82-67 – but harped on a better defensive effort, which dropped off toward the end of the first term.
“They were running forward and peeling off but not helping out their teammates,” he said. “As soon as they got that back, we were pretty right from then on.”
The Power added 2.2. early in the second quarter, both goals through tall forward Ben Eddy, and held a 24-point lead, until GWS hit back with a goal. In a three-goal spurt, the Power shifted gears and continued to stamp its authority on the game with a 38-point lead at half-time – 7.9 (51) to 2.1 (13).
At half-time the Power was clearly the better side and could quite easily have slipped into complacency, but Carroll implored his young team to set the game up in third quarter, and nullify GWS, which was kicking with a four-goal wind.
“We certainly wanted to put the game beyond reach for them and thought we had some unnecessary handballs and hand balling to guys under pressure, so we addressed that during the break,” Carroll said.
“We knew they would come out hard in the third and thought if we could stop that, we’d come home with the wind.”
The Power extended its margin during the third quarter, restricting GWS to two solitary behinds, while adding 4.5 to its score. The contest was well and truly over midway through the third, as the Power surged 65 points ahead going into the final quarter.
With the game dissolved, the Power turned it on in the final stanza booting 10.6 to 2.1 with the midfield and forwards running riot with six different goalkickers.
Jordan Staley was dominant in the ruck all day and provided the Power with an extra marking option across the middle.
Carroll said the entire backline played extremely, especially as it kept GWS to four goals from 35 inside 50s.
In a game in which it was hard to pick the better players because of the overwhelming margin, Carroll gave accolades to Dale Hoghton, Danny Butcher and Clay Smith for their rampant work ethic in the middle while the two twin towers – Eddy and Shaun Marusic – proved too big and strong for Greater Western Sydney’s backs.
“I thought our forward line on the day had a good result. Ben (Eddy) has been chipping away with two or three goals here and there and he produced his best result on the weekend,” Carroll said. “We’ll look forward to watching him progress in the next few matches.”
Michael Ross continues to develop as a pivotal key player. Since returning from injury he’s produced quality performances, which Carroll hopes he sees more of during the latter half of the year.
“To get back to his best on the weekend after dropping a little bit against the Knights, was really positive for us and him,” he said.
“He’s got to keep stepping up each week now, he’s 19, so we expect him to be one of the better players in the competition.”
With the bye this week, Carroll said the players would be sent back to their clubs to train and will be back at the Power next week for the match against Sandringham.