By David Nagel
Earning the respect of new teammates can sometimes be a difficult thing to do but Nar Nar Goon recruit Dermott Yawney has no such concerns after a brilliant nine-goal performance against Kooweerup.
Unsurprisingly, the recruit from Pakenham won the Spirit of Anzac Medal for his superb display that guided the Goon to a meritorious 69-point win at Spencer Street on Saturday.
The 18.16.124 to 8.7.55 victory sees the Goon remain undefeated after three rounds, after taking the Demons best punch in the first term and then counter-punching hard just before quarter time.
The Demons started brightly with midfielder Cosi Anagnostou kicking the game’s opener from long range before Brodie Yapp had the visitors 13-points up after nine minutes of play.
Anagnostou put his solid body to good use in the early passages of play, with Mitch Cammarano and Matt Voss also benefiting from the competitive work of Riley Battams in the ruck.
Nathan Muratore was orchestrating a solid back half, while Luke McMaster showed the Demons were up for the fight after walking from the field after a massive but fair clash on centre wing.
But the Goon showed great maturity to settle, with Anthony Young, Yawney and Troy McDermott giving the home side a seven-point lead at quarter time.
The Goon kicked clear in the second quarter, booting six goals to two, before the Demons answered with three goals to two in the third.
The Goon finished the game off like a good side, kicking 7.7 to 1.0 in the final term to race away with victory.
Yawney was the standout for the Goon, while McDermott finished with four and Jake Smith continued his great form after making the switch from small forward to the wing.
Goon coach Luke Young was satisfied with the victory and praised Yawney and Smith for their performances.
“We didn’t pull away from them until late, they competed well early,” Young said.
“There’s been a couple of training sessions where he (Yawney) has showed what he can do, and to kick a bag like that early on at the club is pretty exciting for us moving forward as well.”
Yawney’s inclusion has taken the pressure of regular target McDermott, while the form of Matt Homfray frees up others as well.
“We’re not changing anything structurally, we just look at it that we’ve got another option up there,” Young said of Yawney’s inclusion.
“It’s great for ‘T-Mac’, because he’s been the go too for a while, and it makes it easier for someone like Luke Bettio too.
“Matt Homfray has been good for us, so that frees up ‘Betts’ a bit as well.
“To have those two kicked 13 goals between them was great, but it’s not going to happen every week…but we do look dynamic up forward.”
The move of Smith to centre wing has been a master-stroke, with the former Pakenham small forward struggling to have an impact in the 11-game season last year.
“I want to get as many good ball users around the contest as possible,” Young said.
“Jake’s not tall, so the opposition weren’t finding it difficult to close him down, so we thought we’d try something different and it seems to be working.
“He’s smart with the ball, uses it well and he’s killing it, he’s been in our best every week.
“And I think he’s enjoying it as well, not having someone on his tail every week.”
One thing that was noticeable on the weekend was the overall size of the Nar Nar Goon team.
Young has an army of players between the six-foot and six-three range that are all athletic and have good skills.
They were clearly superior physically to the young Demons on Saturday.
The Goon had many good players on the weekend with Sam Blackwood showing his class off half back and Aiden Pipicelli doing a great job of keeping the dangerous Jason Wells to two goals.
The Demons failed this test, but we have to remember they have still improved significantly coming from a low-base last year.
Maybe expecting them to compete with one of the top-four teams in the competition was a bridge too far at this stage of their development.
They were missing two of their best players on the weekend, Tim Miller and Trav Bindley, and did show signs in the first and third quarters that they could match it with a powerful unit.
But they’re still growing the Demons and will have improved results on last year as the season unfolds.
The Demons face another tough challenge this week, hosting an in-form Bunyip at Denhams Road, while the Goon will look to make it four-from-four when they pay a visit to Kilcunda-Bass.
