By David Nagel
Phillip Island is perfectly poised to mount a serious challenge for this year’s WGFNC flag after a nine-point victory over reigning champions Tooradin-Dalmore at Cowes.
The Bulldogs, led by a brilliant four-goal performance from Hayden Bruce, took their biggest step yet towards securing a pivotal double-chance with a hard-fought 7.11.53 to 6.8.44 success.
No team has won a WGFNC flag from outside the top two, a position the Bulldogs find themselves in…and six points clear of the Seagulls in third position.
Bulldogs playing-coach Cam Pedersen said the focus heading in was simply to play good football, but mentioned the importance of a top-two position at the three-quarter-time huddle.
“Not so much heading in, but we mentioned it at the end of the third quarter that we either win, and hold our destiny in our own hands, or we lose, and we rely on others to lose moving forward,” Pedersen said.
“The boys responded well because there was a clear breeze blowing to one end and they (Tooradin) had the advantage in the last quarter.”
The Bulldogs started well, with their first quarter being the most productive of the match, kicking 3.4 to 2.0 to open up a 10-point lead at the first break.
They maintained that margin at the half, before kicking out to 17 points with a quarter left to rub.
The experience of Pedersen, Jack Taylor and defender Damien Holmes was crucial in the last quarter, holding out a desperate Seagulls attack.
The Bulldogs were missing three of their trumps cards on the weekend, with Alex Duyker (ACL) and Brendan Kimber (Bicep Tendon) receiving season-ending injuries, while the grunt of Eli Richards (thumb) will be absent for several more weeks to come.
It wasn’t entirely evident against the Seagulls, but Pedersen and his team have worked hard to become a more difficult unit to defend.
That comes down to both game-style, and the quality personnel at his disposal.
“The advantage this year is that we have a lot of talls that can mark the footy, but also put on ground pressure, like Jack Taylor and Max Blake, they’re probably the two best examples of that,” the coach explained.
“They’re classy, they’re tall, but they’re also very good at ground ball and pressure.
“Jai Jordan is a big forward from Mooroolbark, who can also play in the ruck, which means I’m not getting battered around all the time.
“Jack Papas, Cam Brown, Orlando (Kane Gillard), we’ve got speed down there as well so there’s a nice mix between talls and smalls.”
The ball movement side of things is something that seems to be working well, according to the coach.
“We’ve got a completely different game-plan this year, in the way we want to use the ball, being a little less straight line and direct than last year,” he said.
“It’s working, because we’ve scored the most points this year, we’ve just got to keep working hard and developing because Inverloch has the best defence and we need to catch up with that.”
Pedersen agreed that Saturday’s victory gave the Bulldogs the luxury of fine-tuning their game-style and line-up ahead of this year’s finals series.
“We couldn’t have had a tougher first four weeks if we tried, and it was good to get through that at two-one-and-one, and from there we’ve had a lot of development from younger players and players on the fringes that are playing well and unlucky to lose their spot in the side,” he said.
“Our bottom six now is a lot more competitive than it was in previous years, and that’s an area we will continually work on right through to the end of the season.”
Tooradin, minus gun-midfielder Brent Macaffer, was super competitive, with Luke McKenna, Trent Adams and Cooper Shipp in a ruthless mood down back, while Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds and Lewis Hill generated plenty of rive through the midfield.
The return from injury of star-tall Julian Suarez, and versatile mid/forward Dylan Paarlberg, is a positive sign for the Seagulls moving forward.
The Gulls are yet to defeat the top-two this season, but will look to break the drought at Inverloch in round 16.
Inverloch-Kongwak has passed its biggest challenge of the season after the Sea Eagles came from behind at three-quarter time to defeat Warragul Industrials by 24 points at Western Park.
This one was an arm-wrestle for three quarters, with the lead changing five times and the biggest margin being 11 points in favour of Inverloch during the third quarter.
Bailey Patterson kicked the opening goal for the visitors, before late majors to Kyle Staples and Kane Taylor gave the Dusties a five-point lead at the first change.
The returning Dylan Clark kicked a clever goal to open the second stanza for Inverloch, before Taylor put the finishing touches on a dashing run from Matt Herbert to give the hosts back the lead at half time.
The pressure lifted in the third quarter, and Inverloch appeared to take control after Clark kicked his second, and Nick Baltas nailed his first…the beneficiary of a great forward tackle from Patterson.
The Eagles were 11 points up, 16 minutes into the third.
But the Dusties weren’t done with yet, with Staples marking and goaling before Nick Visser gave the home side back the lead with the last kick of the third quarter.
The Dusties had led by five, two and one at the three changes of ends.
But Inverloch took its pressure to a new level in the final term, with goals to Patterson, Baltas and Oscar Toussaint opening up a three-goal lead.
Dusties’ veteran Shane Brewster responded from long range to make it 12 points the difference with 17 minutes ticked off the clock.
Coach Tom Hams then kicked the sealer, before stand-in skipper Lewis Rankin drifted forward to kick one on the siren.
Inverloch clearly missed the ball-winning ability of Andy Soumilas around the stoppages, while they also found goals harder to manufacture with Toby Mahoney on the sidelines.
Baltas, Clark and Patterson all kicked two for the Eagles, who had Jarvis Pryor and Tate Short in wonderful form in defence.
Pryor kept Dusties dangerman Mason McGarrity to no goals, adding his scalp to those of Ryan Gillis and Stewart Scanlon in his last three games of football.
Mark Bradley was an imposing force in the ruck for the Dusties, while Herbert, Sam Russell and Travis Ogden stood up well in defence.
Cora Lynn full-forward Nathan Gardiner has taken his tally to 65 goals for the season with a six-goal haul in a 23-point win over Dalyston.
The Cobras led by 13 points at quarter time, but were stunned at half time after the Magpies kicked four goals to one in the second term to lead by six at the break.
The Cobras regained their composure in the third, leading by seven points at the final change, before booting 3.1 to 0.3 in the last to win by almost four goals.
Tristan Warkuss and new-recruit Josh Cochrane were terrific for the Cobras, while Curtis Murfett, Blake Carew and Brayden Duve continued their consistent seasons for the Pies.
Garfield has chalked up its third win for the season, and first since round five, with a 41-point victory over Korumburra Bena.
The Stars found many avenues to goals, with 11 individual players contributing to their 11.8.74 winning score.
Joel Batson and Zac Souter were once again impressive for the Stars, while Jay Walker, Jack Spencer and Mitch Sawyers will take solid form into the Giants huge clash with Bunyip this week.
A bag of six goals from Anthony Daraio has led Kilcunda Bass to a 55-point victory over Bunyip.
The lively forward has now kicked 27 goals for the season to sit equal-seventh on the league goal-kicking list.
Daraio’s output was crucial in the absence of Taylor Gibson, while regular stars Nathan Foote, Dale Gawley and Cam McKenzie played key roles in the triumph.
Zach Gallahar and Chase Saunders booted two each for the Bulldogs, who are hunting down their first win of the season against Korumburra-Bena this week.
And Nar Nar Goon has produced the biggest win of round 12 with a dominant 18.10.118 to 6.6.42 thumping of Kooweerup.
The Gooners were up and about for this one, putting the issue to bed with a 6.1 to 2.1 opening onslaught.
Justin Stanton’s theory of sharing the load seems to be sinking in at Spencer Street, with Deon Boavida, Nate Pipicelli and Dermott Yawney kicking three goals and Troy McDermott and Jed Smith chiming in with two.
Smith, and Jake Smith, was terrific for the winners, while the versatile Pipicelli continues to elevate his standing in the game.
Adam Amin kicked three for the Demons, and Jason Wells two for the Demons, who had veteran Tim Miller in good nick around the ground.
The Demons stay at home for the next fortnight, hosting Dalyston followed by the Dusties.
