Image by Craig Slaney.
Review by Chris ‘Yeendy’ Yeend.
The QAFL Senior Men’s competition was turned completely on its head in Round 9 action with some massive results and major changes in the ladder positions.
Aspley’s win over Sherwood has it sitting 1.5 games clear on top of the ladder; without co-captain Matt Eagles – Wilston Grange upstaged Broadbeach on the road to leap frog Broadbeach and Morningside from fifth position to third; Redland Victoria Point fought off a determined Noosa to secure a one-game gap between it and third place while Noosa sits 2.5 games outside of the top six; Labrador closed to within two points and percentage of the top six with a win over Morningside; Palm Beach Currumbin fought hard to shake off Mt Gravatt to jump into fifth position; while Surfers Paradise came from the clouds to beat Maroochydore at home to sit just outside of the top six and only four points from fourth placed Morningside, while leaving Maroochydore 2.5 games out of the top six.
WILSTON GRANGE 12.13.85 defeated BROADBEACH 9.5.59
Broadbeach recruit Kasey Nicholas perhaps put himself into greater contention as a smokey for the Grogan Medal with a 32 posession game that included 10 marks, five of which were intercepted. Townsend kicked four goals from nine kicks with five contested marks and four of which game inside 50.
LABRADOR 14.12.96 defeated MORNINGSIDE 11.10.76
In one of the fiercest and hotly contested matches of the weekend; the Southern Tigers held off a determined Panthers’ outfit in the final term to win by 20-points.
With both teams playing for the Kanga Cup; newly appointed Labrador coach Clint Watts coached against his old club Morningside for the first time, a team that he coached to the promise land with the 2020 premiership in a COVID interrupted season. It was the battle of ‘the master v the apprentice’ with his former assistant coach Paul Egan taking on the top job for the opposition.
Labrador started the game in fine fashion with returning Lachie Henderson kicking two goals in quick succession to open up a 13-point lead seven-minutes into the first term.
With slight windy conditions blowing across the ground; both teams weren’t deterred by the conditions; especially as Morningside closed the gap and was able to level the scores at quarter-time; 3.3 a-piece.
Cooper Anderson looked dangerous in the second term for Labrador with two big-time goals. Morningside held a slender seven-point lead heading into time-on before the Tigers rallied late to hold a seven-point lead of its own.
The Panthers pounced in fine fashion with two goals to kick-start the second half before again, Labrador pulled away to lead by eight-points. A late goal from 50-gamer Ryan Dadds closed the gap to two-points heading the final change.
Disaster did strike for Labrador with Henderson limping off the ground late in term with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
Henderson’s absence motivated Labrador in the final term as it kicked away to lead by 24 points and ultimately salute to a 20-point win.
Anderson and Henderson kicked three goals for the winners while new excitement machine Shaquille McLeod kicked three goals for the Panthers. Keep an eye on McLeod; he will take mark and kick goal of the year all in the same game; he’s a truly special talent.
The game itself produced no fewer than seven lead changes with the margin no higher than eight-points from early in the first term until early in the final term.
Labrador young guns Luke Coombes (16 possessions and two goals) and Matt Hoy (15 possessions and six tackles) showed outstanding presence across the day with tremendous work rate and ground coverage. Tom Simpson was outstanding with 37 touches and 10 clearances (the team recorded 32).
Morningside was well serviced by Brad Hodge (16 touches and 32 hit outs) and Dylan Swann (22 touches and five clearances).
*** Yeendy was on the call for the Match of the Day stream for this game***
ASPLEY 14.23.107 defeated SHERWOOD 6.2.38
In the battle between the ladder leading Hornets and the bottom placed Pies; it was always going to be a challenging contest.
The Pies saw three of its key players travel to Brisbane in the VFL that enabled the debut of two 16-year-olds and an 18-year-old to fill their places.
The match went against the script early as the Pies put the first two goals on the board to lead by 10-points mid-way through the opening term. Quick starts from this team have been relatively common this season; especially against the better teams.
Aspley: after some inaccurate kicking in front of goal in the first term (1.9) took control of the game in the second term with 6.6 to open up a 37-point lead. The young Pies tried their best to run with the reigning premiers and pushed them in patches, hitting the scoreboard at frequent intervals.
Aspley kicked 7.10 to 3.2 in the second half to win by 69-points.
Liam Dawson had the game of a lifetime with 23 kicks and 0 handballs; with each kick hitting a target to record a perfect game. He also took 13 intercept marks in a breathtaking performance. Connor Stackleberg kicked 6.5 from 15 kicks, taking 11 marks inside 50.
Sherwood’s debutants tried hard with Julian Cruice (three tackles and three inside 50s) leading the way while brother will be impressed with 17 touches and six marks. Will Fletcher took a game-high nine marks.
REDLAND VICTORIA POINT 10.14.74 defeated NOOSA 6.10.46
This was a dangerous game for the Sharks who made the trip up the high way to the Sunshine Coast. They went into the clash with a two-game losing stretch at home; up against the Northern Tigers that won its previous two games in impressive fashion.
RVP pushed out to a 21-point lead at quarter-time before the Tigers closed the margin back to 13-points at the main break. RVP pushed away again in the third term to lead by 29-points on the back of eight scoring shots to two and holding its opponents goal-less.
The Tigers fought back in the final term to reduce the three-quarter-time margin by a point in the 28-point loss.
RVP kicked 6.11 to 1.4 (+37) across the first and third quarters that proved to be the key difference in the result. The game itself was quite the arm-wrestle otherwise.
There was a lot to like about the endeavour of Noosa who is starting to produce some outstanding football after a slow start. RVP at its best is in the top two teams of the competition and it was a testament from the team to fight hard after losing two in a row at home and to respond with a gritty win to take back down south.
Josh Brown kicked 4.1 from six kicks for the Sharks while Brock Aston produced his best effort of the season with 47 touches (25 contested), 14 clearances and five inside 50s in a jaw-dropping performance.
Seb Rogers was outstanding for Noosa with 31 touches, six tackles, a game-high nine inside 50s and a goal while Will O’Dwyer kicked two goals.
Overall, both teams will take a lot of positives from this performance.
PALM BEACH CURRUMBIN 15.12.102 defeated MT GRAVATT 11.11.77
The Lions have made it three wins on the bounce after they clawed their way to victory over a determined Vultures’ outfit at home.
Mt Gravatt came out with great determination early; going goal-for-goal with Palm Beach Currumbin to have the scores levelled at quarter-time; 4.3.27 apiece. The second quarter was just as much of an arm-wrestle as the first with the home side edging out to a nine-point advantage.
The third term was a mirror-image of the first term with both teams trading massive blows in front of goals again, adding four goals each as the Lions led by 12-points heading into the main break.
Mt Gravatt tried gallantly to take the lead in the final term but missed key opportunities in front of goals, kicking 1.7 while PBC slotted home 4.2 to win the contest by 25-points.
Both teams were effective with marks inside 50; PBC leading 12-10 with about one in four entries from both teams resulting in marks to forwards. The tackle count was a combined 123, a reflection of the overall pressure in the game.
Malachi Dumas impressed up forward for the winners with 4.1 from 10 kicks while Zac Harrison was outstanding with 38 touches, 11 tackles and three spoils.
Mt Gravatt captain Jonah Licht kicked 3.1 from seven kicks while Todd Carbone was a workhorse with 24 disposals and six centre bounce clearances – the most of any player on the ground.
SURFERS PARADISE 13.7.85 defeated MAROOCHYDORE 12.9.81
In a match for the ages, the Demons came back from the dead to pinch a remarkable four-point win at home over the Roos in an epic finale.
Surfers Paradise started the game strongly; taking a 16.-point lead into the first change. The Roos responded with class and precision in the second term with 6.1 to take a three-point lead into the main break.
Poor kicking in front of goal became an issue for the visiting Roos outfit in the third term with 3.5 to lead by eight-points heading into the final change. Mean-while; Surfers Paradise just couldn’t miss; kicking 6.0 without a miss in the middle quarters.
After kicking the opening goal of the final term, Maroochydore were over-run by a determined and fast-finishing Demons outfit that kicked the final three goals of the game, including one very late in the piece to pinch the match in a thriller.
The scoreboard showcased a close affair; the stats did the same. Maroochydore led the tackle could by two and Inside 50 count by three. Intercept marks were event while Surfers Paradise led the disposal count by four and inside 50 marks by two. Maroochydore were better in the midfield with 46-32 clearances and 58-35 in hit-outs.
Jamison Shea impressed while on return to the team through Southport’s bye in the VFL with 21 touches and three goals; and Marlin Corbett responded from his omission from the Suns VFL team with 20 touches; one goal and five inside 50s.
Ty Gallop was strong up forward for the Roos with four goals and six contested marks while Mitch Scholard kicked three goals. Zac Stone had 28 touches and seven centre bounce clearances.
LADDER
1 – Aspley (30 – 214.99%)
2 – RVP (24 – 137.88%)
3 – Wilston Grange (20 – 120.18%)
4 – Morningside (20 – 102.21%)
5 – PBC (20 – 89.59%)
6 – Broadbeach (18 – 107.41%)
7 – Surfers Paradise (16 – 110.46%)
8 – Labrador (16- 101.00%)
9 – Mt Gravatt (12 – 81.92%)
10 – Maroochydore (8 – 82.34%)
11 – Noosa (8 – 77.11%)
12 – Sherwood (0 – 54.56%)
