La Trobe wins the rumble in the Jungle as Razorbacks send a warning to the competition

Billy Bolch

Round 1 was the return for football many were waiting for and after 245 days, proved to be an exciting round. Two of the three games went right down to the wire whilst one team has already put themselves in front as the team to beat in 2022.

Elgar Park played host to the round one matchup between Box Hill North and Eley Park and with the rain came the nature of a tough and fairly low-scoring game. The game started off extremely close before Box Hill gained an edge to go up by two goals at halftime. Eley Park however kicked back in the final half, taking over the scoreboard kicking 6 goals to Box Hills’ 3 in the second half and winning the game 57-43. Jordan Gasparini (Box Hill North), Andrew Yeo (Eley Park) and Jesiah McGarvie (Eley Park) led the scoreboard with two goals each. The Eley Park duo were best on field for the Sharks whilst Cameron Liston and David Edwards were the best for the Demons.

Box Hill North will now try to rebound as they come up against the 1-0 La Trobe whilst the Sharks face St Johns at home with the aim of going 2-0 to start the season for the first time since 2019.

Masala welcomed La Trobe to North Dandenong in what was tipped to be a great match between the two teams. The early rain of the game halted before the end of the first half when Masala went into the break leading by a point. Inaccurate kicking in the fourth almost cost La Trobe in the end however stormed home kicking 2 unanswered goals and holding off a late Masala push leading to an 89-77 win for La Trobe. Team of the year forward Declan Fowler continued where he left off for Masala kicking 6 majors. Tom Williamson was judged best on field for the Tigers for his work in the midfield. For La Trobe, Lachlan Webb and Bryce Dowler kicked 3 goals each and Riley Alexander kicked 2.

Masala faces potentially the toughest test of the season as they head to Hawthorn to take on the Razorbacks who are coming off a dominant win. La Trobe will make the trip down to Box Hill as they look to go 2-0, a feat they achieved in the 2021 season.

In the final game of the round, Swinburne faced Albert Park in what would be a good measuring stick for both opponents. The game started off fairly even with the Razorbacks leading 17-13 at quarter-time. However, the second quarter marked the beginning of the end for the Falcons as Swinburne kicked 6 goals to Albert Parks 1 in the second to lead by 38 at half-time. Swinburne kept the scoreboard pressure on all game running out winners 112-34 in what was an early warning to the rest of the competition. Benjamin Cox was the star of the day for the Razorbacks after kicking 5. Zachary Lassey and Glen Lovett were also key players for Swinburne. For the Falcons, Enver Krasnic was the only multiple goal scorer with two goals. Mackenzie Hyder and Jack Lee were among the best for Albert Park.

The Razorbacks will now host Masala, a team that they had a 1-1 record against in 2021 whereas Albert Park will take the week off to regroup before they face Box Hill North at home.

St John’s who had the bye will look to kick off their season strong when they face Eley Park away which will be a good test after Eley Park’s good start to the season.