Chris ‘Yeendy’ Yeend
It was an extraordinary round of QAFL on the weekend with Palm Beach taking down the undefeated Redland Victoria Point on foreign territory; Noosa broke through for its maiden win of the season; Broadbeach held off a determined Labrador; reigning premiers Aspley flexed its muscles with an impressive win; Maroochydore held on against Morningside and Surfers Paradise continued its impressive run of form.
PALM BEACH CURRUMBIN 15.7.97 defeated REDLAND VICTORIA POINT 12.10.82
The Lions caused the upset of the season to date with a remarkable 15-point win over the Sharks at The Tank. They came into the contest on the back of disappointing losses to contenders Labrador and Broadbeach; but played its best football of the season to date with a remarkable come-from-behind win.
The Sharks, having pushed passed Sherwood in the second-half in Round 6; had recorded wins over Noosa and Broadbeach at home to start the season and pushed away to a handy 17-point break at the main break led by three goals to one in the second term.
Palm Beach Currumbin played its best football of the season, in the third term when it restricted the Sharks to one goal and slammed home seven to turn a 17-point deficit into an 18-point lead heading into the final term; a remarkable 35-point turn-around.
The Lions matched the surge set by the Sharks in the final term; going goal-for-goal in a shoot-out; before Malachi Dumas capped off his remarkable day with a goal just before the siren to seal victory.
Statistically; RVP dominated the tackle count 61-32; but were denied of its usual heavy possession tally, particularly through the midfield as PBC actually won the count, a feat not achieved by any opposition team this year; and also the inside 50 count.
The Lions were prominent in attack; recording 13 marks inside 50 and won the spoil count 11-6; a key stat the the Sharks’ defense prides itself on winning each week. These stats show that the Lions put on an extraordinary team-performance to beat the Sharks at their own game.
The Lions had multiple players share the workload for inside 50 and tackle counts with Carl Nicholson playing a strong game with 22 disposals; 12 of which were contested; and kicked three goals.
Caleb Franks and Brock Aston made up for the absence of Jack Rolls in the midfield with 42 and 37 touches respectively with Brock enjoying 9 inside 50s. Matt Hammelman took his season tally of goals to 32 with a bag of six.
NOOSA 15.13.103 defeated SHERWOOD 13.9.87
With the Northern Tigers and the Pies searching for their first wins of the season; this game had more on the line than just four-points; it was about pride.
Sherwood pushed away to a handy quarter-time lead which was extended in the second with four goals to two and opened up a 10-point lead at the main break.
Noosa; with AFL legend Kevin Sheedy in attendance; provided the legend with memories of his fighting battles as a Tiger with an impressive five goal third term to lead by 17-points heading into the main break and an outstanding 27-point turn-around.
With Sherwood’s great young list digging deep in the final term; it was no match for Noosa as both teams traded goals; five-each in the final term with the Noosa holding on to win by 16-points.
Mav Pettigrove was the righful X-Factor for Noosa with six goals from 12 kicks and five tackles while captain Aaron Laskey impressed on return with 25 touches and nine inside 50s.
Alex Dickfos was solid on debut for the Pies with multiple goals; alongside John Baker and Jack Austin who also hit the scoreboard. Bruce Reville was outstanding with 28 touches; 14 that were contested; and 10 inside 50s.
ASPLEY 20.11.131 defeated MT GRAVATT 7.5.47
After trailing by one-point at the first change; the Hornets stung into action in the second term with 6.2 to 0.2 to take a 35-point lead into the half-time break.
The Vultures were determined to keep up its run of competitive form; especially against quality sides and went toe-to-toe with the reigning premiers in the third term to see the margin increase marginally to 37 at the final break.
Aspley flexed its muscles in the final term; kicking more than its first half score (9.4) in the final term with a sizzling display of ball use through the midfield to put on 9.5 to 2.0 and record an impressive 84-point victory.
The Hornets led the disposal efficiency by more than 16-percent (73-percent); inside 50 count 73 to 34; and effective spoils by nine. Full credit to the Vultures were matched the Hornets with contested disposal; led the tackle count by 26 but came unglued defensively conceding 13 forward 50 marks and taking three.
Connor Stackleberg played his best game since returning from injury by kicking seven goals; finishing the game with 12 scoring shots from his 16 kicks and took a staggering nine marks inside 50. To the surprise of no-one; Liam Dawson led the intercept mark count with six.
Joel Leahy impressed with 24 touches; 11 with which were contested and also recorded eight inside 50s and kicked a goal alongside his seven clearances.
MAROOCHYDORE 11.10.76 defeated MORNINGSIDE 10.8.68
The Roos kept their season alive with a brave eight-point win on the road to Morningside. In a staggering stat; this is just the third win that the Roos have secured against a team that was in the top six at any stage of the season in the passed three home and away season. It’s been referenced how much the Roos need to beat the teams in the top six to give themselves a chance of playing finals and making an impact in finals; this was their biggest win since the 2021 Preliminary Final over Labrador.
The Roos led the contest at every change against a hungry, determined and well drilled Morningside team that have not done too much wrong this season (other than its shock loss in Round 6).
Maroochydore led the game in disposals, marks (+21), inside 50s (+10), clearances (+17) and marks inside 50. Morningside were solid in working hard across the four quarters but couldn’t kick consecutive goals at crucial stages to claw the lead into its favour.
Sam McLachlan was the clear stand-out on the day with 34 touches; 15 contested possessions and four inside 50s to go with his three goals. Mitch Scholard impressed with his best game of the season with four goals that included four marks inside 50 to be a force impossible to stop.
It was another Mitch that stood out for the Panthers with Robinson returning from a finger injury to gather 34 touches; 15 contested possessions and six inside 50s. Kyle Dunkley was solid on debut after coming back from the Brisbane Lions VFL team with 17 touches and three spoils.
Morningside still sit in fourth position despite a two game skid while the Maroochydore sit in ninth; one game and percentage behind fifth placed Wilston Grange.
SURFERS PARADISE 13.14.92 defeated WILSTON GRANGE 9.10.64
The Demons are coming! After a disappointing 2022 season, the Demons have won three of their past four matches and have dropped games to PBC (+16), Mt Gravatt (+1) and Broadbeach (+24) and sit in sixth position.
Wilston Grange slide into the bottleneck of teams on three wins after letting a golden opportunity slip at home. After leading by 11-points at the first change; it was overwhelmed in the second half with Surfers Paradise putting five goals on its defense in the third and fourth quarters to turn an 11-point lead into a 28-point loss.
Wilston Grange performed better in the air with 14 effective spoils to nil but it was Surfers Paradise that performed more efficiently inside 50 with 27 scoring shots from 41 entries at 66-percent which is extraordinary.
Surfers Paradise had many key winners with Byron Finch on point with five goals from eight kicks and six marks inside 50 while Kain Ford was unstoppable through the middle with 18 touches; four clearances and six inside 50s.
For the Gorillas; Lachlan Rhook was exceptional early with three goals before being well held after half-time, Will Martyn was outstanding with 36 touches and 8 inside 50s while Nash Stevenson worked hard with six inside 50s from 14 touches.
BROADBEACH 10.12.72 defeated LABRADOR 8.4.52
The Cats clawed its way to another impressive victory against another challenger in season 2023. With a wave of injuries to key players; the club unleashed its next breed of Kittens that by the end of the game, became fully-grown Cats after impressive individual performances.
The Southern Tigers led by 20-points at the first change before the Cats responded with five goals to one in the second term to lead the game by eight-points at the main break in tough, windy conditions.
Labrador lost Lachlan Henderson to injury in the first half that forced some key positional changes; but it didn’t alter the game too much because Broadbeach were just too clean at ground level and moved the ball well through the corridor in the second half to make life difficult for the Labrador talls.
Broadbeach kicked five goals to four in the second half and held firm against a determined Labrador fight-back in the final term.
Broadbeach led the inside 50 count 62 to 28 but conditions were tough for forwards to gain clean possession of the ball from pressure kicks inside 50. Both teams combined for 98 tackles; with Labrador recording more spoils (24-13) but Broadbeach winning more of the contested ball (173-63).
For the winners; Riley Bowman was strong and crafty at half-forward with 22 touches and a staggering 47 hit-outs; and 9 inside 50s that could open doors in the VFL should injuries come to Thurlow or Crossley in the Sharks; Jacob Townsend took some massive strong-contested marks in the second half when the Tigers were pressing and Kasey Nicholas was strong with 30 touches.
For the Tigers, Charlton Offermans impressed through the midfield with 34 touches, eight clearances and seven inside 50s; and Jed Riddle was crafty at half forward with minimal disposals but tremendous pressure acts.
