By Marcus Uhe
Narre Warren has sent a stark reminder to rest of the Outer East’s premier division: we’re not going anywhere.
Saturday’s clash with Gembrook was a true danger-game; a plucky underdog with nothing to lose and riding a wave of confidence against the seasoned proffesionals working their way back to their best form.
The ideal way to answer the critics? A dominant 89-point win in a contest that was as one-sided as it sounds.
Only a four-goal-to-three final quarter in favour of the Brookers saved them from the embarrassment of a triple-figure margin.
The contest could not have started any better for the home side with Jay Verhagan opening the scoring in the opening minute.
Verhagan must have skipped breakfast because he the appetite for the contest early in the game, throwing himself into the action and using his physicality to make an impact, although his clumsy and overzealous tackling led to a number of freekicks going against him.
Despite the lack of rain during the game itself, conditions were slippery at the top of the hill, as many players elected to slide along the ground or kick the ball off the ground.
When Hayden Dwyer opened his account on senior debut after 10 minutes, it set on motion a rapid 15 minutes in which the Magpies kicked the next five.
Their skill level was considerably higher than the hosts as they chained with hands and looked to play on through the middle of the ground at every opportunity.
By contrast, the Brookers often moved the ball too quick for their forwards to react and found themselves kicking to the Narre Warren back six, who took back-shoulder positioning with the slippery ball in play.
Returning forward Will Howe began to regain his touch in an ominous quarter for the Magpies, as poor discipline from the Brookers assisted their cause with freekicks and 25-metre penalties contributing to three of the opening five majors.
Compounding matters was a calf injury to the dashing Dean Smith, who came from the ground in the opening minutes and emerged from the rooms with ice strapped to his leg.
With seven goals to two in the second term, the Magpies went in for the kill, and all-but put the contest to bed by the long break.
Four goals in the opening 10 minutes of the quarter granted the black and white brigade a 44 point lead, seemingly out of nowhere.
When Jake Richardson handballed backwards over his head to Kurt Mutimer, who found Howe with a low darting pass, you could sense the comfort with which they were playing with.
At the heart of the assault was Tom Miller, who was simply everywhere the contest demanded.
So often he was at the bottom of the pack feeding the ball to Tom Toner and his fellow midfielders, supported by armchair service in the ruck from Lachlan Benson.
Siwes kicked his second third and fourth goals of the contest to close the first half, capitalising on some slick ball movement further afield.
Dwyer was making a serious impression on his uncle and senior coach Shane, threading the needle of three green jumpers to find Siwes on a short lead for him to kick his third.
There was simply nothing that Gembrook-Cockatoo could do to stop the onslaught, as Narre Warren raised the bat for their hundredth point midway through the third term.
Misses to Matt Frazzetto and Myles Wareham didn’t help the home side’s causes, Frazzetto in particular firing on goal from 30 out when he had empty space ahead of him.
Howe kicked three in the quarter alone to cap a successful return from a hamstring injury, the first of three Magpies to reach a handful, followed by Siwes and Toner later in the contest.
Frustrations were getting the better of the home side, as Toner was marched 100 metres up the field from centre-half-back to centre-half-forward thanks to a double 25-metre penalty.
Where Narre Warren had options both in the air and at ground level, the same couldn’t be said for their opponents who were too reliant on their keys to hold their marks.
14 goals to just three in the middle of the game reflected the disparity between the two sides: one a premier of the competition’s second division, the other the cream of the competition’s crop in 2022.
Much of the last quarter was margin-watch, and Toner did his best to breach the 100-point barrier.
He kicked his fourth and fifth of the game, including a bomb on the run from within the centre square to complete the handful.
But Verhagen and Wareham kicked the final two for Gembrook-Cockatoo, to ensure the gap remained in double-figures.
Only Wandin’s round one matchup with Moutn Evelyn produced a higher individual team total than Narre Warren’s 146 on Saturday.
While three combined to kick 15 of the 22 goals, absent from the goalkickers list was Jake Richardson, a reminder fo the depth and weaponry in Dwyer’s arsenal.
“The importance of winning so well without him having an influence on the scoreboard is pretty big for us,” he said.
“He’s a league best and fairest winner and he was the leading goalkicker for us last year. To kick 20-odd goals like we did and not have him hit the scoreboard is a pretty good effort.
“We’re hoping with the three talls that we can stretch them a bit. We thought we’d get [rain], but we got a beautiful day and it worked out alright for us.”
Equally pleasing was the defensive integrity and fortitude his side displayed, in spite of an unsettled and varied group deployed throughout the year.
“We’re trying to fiddle around and get the right mix but they’re been really good. Outside of Wandin on that small ground, we haven’t conceded many goals.
“We want them to go and we try to setup behind the ball well and hope teams don’t get through us. Everyone knows what they’ve got to do, everyone knows their job.
“I thought it was the best game that Ryan Patterson’s played, he played very well. It’s good to give them confidence.”
For Gembrook Cockatoo, Myles Wareham kicked three, while Firrito and Verhagen added two each.
Scoring has hardly been an issue for the Division One premiers in the higher standard of football, but just two sides have conceded more points than the men in green, despite playing one less game than half of the competition.
Only themselves and Mount Evelyn, the worst side in the competition for points conceded, have allowed two scores of more than 100.
