By David Nagel
A slick and confident looking Nar Nar Goon has made the biggest statement in round one of the WGFNC season with a dominant 49-point victory over Phillip Island.
The Goon suffered a heartbreaking one-point loss to the Bulldogs in last year’s preliminary final, but turned the tables with a commanding 15.9(99) to 7.8(50) performance at Spencer Street.
Justin Stanton’s team looked the better outfit from the start, but failed to capitalise in the first term, leading by 14 points.
But with Trent Armour in superb touch through the midfield, the Goon got full bang for its buck in the second stanza.
Armour set the scene with a long running goal, kicking the margin out to 20, before full-forward Dermott Yawney took control.
Two strong grabs, and two straight kicks, had the Nar Nar Goon faithful cheering loud.
Phillip Island recruit Aaron Harris soon replied, but that was merely a blip on the radar for the hosts; who piled on three further goals to take a match-winning 44-point lead to the major break.
Tex Marsham and Jed Murphy both marked and goaled, before Yawney put the rubber-stamp on a dominant quarter for the Goon with a fine six-pointer on the run.
The Goon won the second half by only five points, but were clearly the superior team when the heat was in the contest.
“It was pretty fast moving straight away, a pretty hot footy as usual, we just took on what we needed to and just tried to slow it down back to our kind of footy,” Armour explained post-match.
“I think that helped us; hands and a bit of spread paid dividends in the end.
“It was definitely a massive one, we came into it pretty much not wanting to lose; it was a must win for us to pretty much prove a bit of a point.”
The Goon looked more well balanced in the front half, with the mosquito fleet of Jack Gribbin, Matt Gentile and Ethan Douglas applying enormous pressure on the Bulldogs defence.
“They’re super; little small blokes, but they’ve got some leg behind them and they add heaps for us down forward especially,” Armour said.
“The amount of forward pressure has probably gone up and definitely helped us in all the forward contests down there.”
Yawney kicked three of his five goals in the second term as the Goon flexed their round-one muscle against an opponent who got the better of them in the penultimate game last year.
“We kept the foot on the throat, maybe that last quarter they got a bit on top of us, but I feel like the game was and truly over by then,” Yawney said.
“It was a good win; obviously we had a chip on our shoulder from the prelim…so it was good.
“It’s a long year, it’s only round one, that’s old stuff now and we move forward.
“Hopefully we get a top-two finish this year and go at least one better this year.”
Yawney appears to have more help this season up forward, with Jake Smith kicking three, Matt Homfray two, while developing youngster Tex Marsham stood out like a beacon with his two goals.
Yawney said Marsham had benefitted from a strong pre-season at VFL level.
“I’m one of Tex’s biggest fans, and I got stuck into him a bit this pre-season,” Yawney said.
“He was at Box Hill all pre-season with the VFL and he’s put on (weight), he’s got massive, his marking is awesome.
“I told him he could be the best player in this team, you’ve just got to believe in it, and I feel this year that he’s going to have a breakout year.”
Armour was exceptional for the Goon, while Harrison Brain and Ryan Bromley were valuable contributors across the four quarters.
The Goon was also strengthened by the return of ruckman Eamon Trigg, who missed the majority of last year with a lower-leg injury.
Daniel Bourke stuck to his guns for the Bulldogs, while experienced faces such as Jaymie Youle, Mark Griffin and Jack Taylor were joined by exciting youngster Yianni Caffieri on the best players list.
Nar Nar Goon should have no problems in dealing with a short trip to Bunyip this week, while the Bulldogs face another tough test when they host a confident Cora Lynn at Cowes.
