By David Nagel
The foundations of the Tooradin Rec Reserve will be rocking on Saturday when ‘blockbusters galore’ take place between the Seagulls and Inverloch-Kongwak in the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition (WGFNC).
Fair dinkum you couldn’t request a better afternoon of community sport, with the top-two teams in senior and reserve football – and A Grade netball – going head-to-head in the biggest contest of the home-and-away season.
Remarkably, Inverloch-Kongwak is yet to lose a game of football in seniors, reserves and thirds this year, while the Seagulls are hot on their heels having lost just one game in the top-two divisions.
In netball, the A Grade teams of both clubs are set for a mammoth showdown with both being undefeated after 10 rounds.
It doesn’t get much bigger than this!
The senior game between the Seagulls and Sea Eagles – yep, watch us stuff that up before the end of this article – promises to be an absolute beauty with the reigning champions Tooradin trying to stave off the most powerful move from a challenger.
It was only 12 months ago when Tooradin was the upstart contender, as it tried successfully to break a 25-year drought and unseat Phillip Island from its throne.
This time…the roles are reversed!
Tooradin (the Seagulls…I think) was magnificent in 2022, winning a stunning premiership that brought a tear to many a grown-man’s eye.
But key parts to that triumph, Brady Egan, Steve Robb, James Trezise, Dylan Paarlberg, Blake Grewar, Dylan Wilson, Luke McKenna, Matt Livermore and Adam Galea have had either marginal or no impact this season.
Egan and Robb sought clearances, while Trezise has been a huge success story after being selected by Richmond in the 2023 AFL Mid-Season Draft.
He has played no games for the Seagulls this season – and won’t be – while Paarlberg, Grewar, Wilson and McKenna have played just four games combined this year.
Galea and Livermore have both played a handful of games, and are sure to be key contributors if the Gulls are to make it back-to-back crowns this year.
That sort of turnover would usually have a huge impact on a club, but the Gulls have somehow continued to thrive.
Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds has been a wonderful acquisition to the midfield, while the experienced Ray Lengyel showed some promising signs in the early stages of the season.
Will Lumby has been competitive in the ruck; Panos Papas has been lively as a small forward, while a fully-fit Brad Lenders is playing some of the best footy of his career in defence.
And then there’s the absolute top shelf, with Collingwood premiership player Brent Macaffer dominating the midfield battles, and ruck-forward Piva Wright capable of anything on his day.
Just flick the mind back to grand final day and a certain medal that Piva had hanging around his neck!
And then there’s Adam Oxley, the best attacking half-back in the WGFNC for the last two years who is now kicking goals for fun.
Oxley is an athletic beast, and the Sea Eagles (Inverloch…I hope), will need to be at their defensive and watchful best to keep Oxley and Stewart Scanlon from hitting the scoreboard this weekend.
Not that defence will totally dominate the thoughts of Sea Eagles coach Tom Hams…because Inverloch also has some attacking weaponry at its disposal as well.
Let’s be frank…the Sea Eagles ended 2022 in the most disappointing fashion of all finalists.
Finishing third they were knocked out on week one by sixth-placed Warragul Industrials…on a day when the premiership contender just failed to find answers and froze in front of the big sticks.
Hams has taken over the reins from Ben Soumilas and, as a consequence of that loss, has taken over a highly-motivated group!
It’s a group that was weakened by the loss of key stars like running-machine Corey Casey, the rock-solid Shem Hawking, and dangerous forwards Tristan Van Driel and Jenson Garnham…but the Sea Eagles have well-and-truly outweighed those negatives with the acquisition of some stars.
There is no more recognisable figure in the WGFNC than star midfielder Andy Soumilas, while Bailey Patterson, Kairon Dorling and Tate Short have bolstered an already frugal defence.
And in Nick Baltas and Will Hams, the Sea Eagles have latched on to two of the most damaging forward-half players in the WGFNC this season.
There will be some intriguing match-ups this week, but the possibility of Short lining up on Oxley is one to get the mouth-watering.
Jarvis Pryor or Patterson will likely get the job on Scanlon, while Michael Eales has the bulk and physicality to match it with Wright when he drifts down to the goal-square.
But these big games are most often won in the midfield.
Macaffer, Bertoli-Simmonds and Livermore…versus Soumilas, Oscar Toussaint and Ethan Park…the prospect of such a clash is seriously exciting.
This one will be a thriller…with Inverloch to prevail by three points.
