Junior footy returned this week after the school holiday break for the majority of the competition.
It returned with a bang, with plenty of highlights from the weekend.
Here are the best tidbits from the weekend…
WELCOME BACK AMBER
Amber Clarke was the Little Legend of the week in the inaugural Gazette Junior Wrap, and at the time, she wasn’t playing junior footy due to an injury in the Victorian trials.
But she returned on the weekend and didn’t she have a day out!
Clarke kicked seven goals in the big win, proving she is way too good for the level.
Narre North Foxes ended up winning by six goals, so evidently, Clarke was the difference between the two teams.
Her Ray’s teammate Jemma Radford had a decent day out herself, kicking three goals and being named best for Pearcedale.
CALLAN: THE MATCH-WINNER
First wins of the season are sweet, but they’re even sweeter when they’re hard fought.
Officer’s under-12 White team hadn’t celebrated a win all year and in the dying minutes of the game, when the Roos were down by a point, it looked like Sunday wasn’t going to be the day.
But Callan Hobson decided enough was enough, he grabbed the footy (and the fate of the game) and kicked it straight over the umpire’s hat, putting the Roos in front and eventually winning the game.
The Roos celebrated a five point win, and if that wasn’t special enough, the boys got over the line in Ashton Mills-Smith’s 50th game for the club.
Well done to the Roos, Ashton and Callan – the footy has a funny way of bouncing the way of those who are working hard!
TERRIFIC TONER
Toner is a well-known name in this area for Narre Warren, but it is Mitch Toner from Pakenham that continues to deliver in the under-13 competition.
Mitch kicked five on the weekend and has kicked a whopping 28 from seven matches this year.
Toner has kicked a goal in each of his outings this year, but has taken a particular fancy to the Beaconsfield teams.
There are two in his competition and in his three matches against Beacy this year, Toner has kicked nine, four and now five.
With the strength of Beaconsfield in the senior footy, if Mitch keeps this up, he might get a call up to play with the seniors!
BIG, BIG WINS
In the under-17 Division 1 competitions, there was nothing but thumping wins over the weekend.
So much so, the smallest win of the weekend was 110 points out of three games.
The largest was 159 and the in between, 116.
If the winning teams scores were combined and likewise the losing teams, the total score line would read: 61.52 (418) to 4.9 (33).
Unsurprisingly, the three winning teams are the three top teams on the table.
PATRICK’S FORM POWERS ON
Patrick Ingram from the Beaconsfield Gold team in the under-14s has been kicking goals for fun in recent weeks.
In fact, he’s kicked 11 in two weeks.
In the first two rounds of the year, Patrick went goalless in both games.
In his next two, he managed one goal, and in the last two weeks, Patrick has gone bang, kicking big hauls of goals.
Patrick has been playing for Beaconsfield for quite a long time now, starting as a very young tacker.
His hard work looks to be paying off with his 13 goals so far this year.
The Beacy Gold team is undefeated after nine games, perhaps they can win the premiership to cap off what has been a brilliant football year for Patrick.
HONEY’S HEROIC COMEBACK
In the first game of the year Jackson Honey broke his ankle and was in a bad way.
It looked like it was season ending for the under-14 out of Officer, but his hard-work in rehab paid off, as he made a miraculous return on Sunday.
He waited just 12 weeks on the sidelines between games.
His parents watched on nervously as he got his first touch, it eventuated in a goal to one of his teammates, which settled the nerves a little bit.
The Roos unfortunately went down to Pakenham, but the story of the day was the safe and happy return to Jackson.
Well done to Jackson and his family for working hard to getting back out on the field.
BRILLIANT BRODIE
Narre South Lions didn’t have its best day on Sunday against Noble Park in the under-13 south east competition, Noble Park are the best team in it after all, but there was one major highlight.
Of the Lions three goals for the day, one of them went to Brodie Rode.
It was Brodie’s first goal for the year after six games.
A fantastic effort from Brodie, keep it up, kick two next week!
HUDSON JUST LOVES FOOTY
If our calculations are correct, Tooradin-Dalmore Hudson Rogers superstar has been quite the journeyman in his short footy career.
Hudson plays in the under-14s this year, but if the archives have been put together correctly, Hudson has played approximately 70 games already.
Starting way back in under-9’s back in 2016, it seems Hudson had been across all grades, chipping in above the age groups when need be.
It’s all starting to pay off for Hudson, who is kicking goals like no tomorrow this season.
From his eight goals this year, Hudson has kicked 20 goals – including one in each game and multiple goals in seven of eight!
Approximately 70 games in the under-14s – imagine if he had a full year in 2020 as well.
THE SBL SNAPSHOT SHOUT OUT
Parents, players, volunteers and the like brave the cold each week, and Sunday was the true test to each of their commitment.
A massive shout out to Sarah Lyne at SBL SNAPSHOTS who week-in-week-out sends in fantastic photos of junior players each week.
Sarah has the photographer’s handy knack of being in the right place at the right time, all the time.
As seen in recent weeks and in this edition, her pictures are sensational.
She is a star, well done Sarah; we at the Gazette love your work!
