Freak accident sees top-of-the-table clash cut short

The matchup between ladder leaders Whitefriars and Old Yarra Cobras was abandoned part way through the second quarter after a player fell awkwardly during a marking contest.

The injured Old Yarra player, who sustained a badly broken arm, required treatment from paramedics and was taken to Box Hill Hospital, where he underwent surgery on Sunday.

“We’re shattered for him,” said Cobras coach Nathan Monaco. “It was his first game of seniors in over a year; he didn’t get a crack last year and had just worked his way back into the team. Footy’s just not fair sometimes.”

Both coaches praised how players and umpires handled the immediate aftermath of the accident.

“The umpires controlled the situation really well,” said Whitefriars coach Lucas Matthews. “It’s a tough situation with lots of emotions happening, but the way they handled things was first rate.”

The match had been hotly contested prior to the incident, with the lead changing four times as neither team led by more than two straight kicks.

“It looked like both teams were up for it, it was a pretty high standard of footy with very different game styles,” said Monaco.

The match will be classified as a draw as the match was timed out in the first half.  

Canterbury was bought back to Earth after registering their first win of the season last week, going down to West Brunswick by 88 points at Ransford Oval.

Magpies coach Regan Tait said his charges took some time to understand how Canterbury tried to move the ball before his side were able to get the game on their own terms, and that all their pre-season work was starting to pay off.

Tait highlighted the efforts of Joel Krauss of half back (“I don’t think he dropped a single intercept mark”) and Conor Fowler on the wing (“he was everywhere; there wasn’t a disputed ball that he wasn’t anywhere near”).

St John’s and MHSOB played a high-scoring thriller at Thomas Carroll Reserve, with the JOC’s overcoming a five-point deficit at three quarter time to win by 14 points.

The Unicorns got out to a 24-point lead partway through the third quarter before two goals in quick succession to Harvey Emery got St John’s back in the game. The JOC’s continued to ride the wave of momentum after three quarter time, kicking four goals in the first 10 minutes of the final quarter to take a 19-point lead – one they would not relinquish.

St John’s coach Tim Edwards felt his team responded well to the challenge he had thrown down going into the game.

“It’s a long way back from one and four, so I put a lot on the guys and told them that while we’ve played some tough opponents, this was where we need to draw the line if they wanted to have a crack this year. And they never gave up, even when we got four goals down,” he said.

The two teams were accurate in front of goal, resulting in just the second game this season where both teams scored more than 100 points.

Unicorns coach Bernie Pretty said the high-scoring nature of the game was the result of both teams attacking well with ball in hand but defending poorly without it.

“The accuracy you can see on the scoreboard reflects both teams having really good opportunities to score goals. It wasn’t a case of dumb luck – both teams were scoring from between the point posts,” he said.

South Melbourne Districts broke their run of four consecutive losses and claimed their first victory of 2025 with an 82-point win over Hawthorn.

After an even opening stanza that saw South Melbourne take a four-point lead into quarter time, the remaining three quarters opened up somewhat as the Bloods extended their lead to 18 points at the main break and 41 points at three quarter time.

South Melbourne coach Nick Abbott was understandably pleased with the result, chalking the victory up to continuity among the playing group and holding their structure throughout the match.

“But now is the time where we need to continue to build and improve each week,” Abbott said.

St Mary’s Salesian bounced back after last week’s narrow loss to MHSOB, defeating Aquinas by 82 points on the back of a 10 goal to none second half.

Saints’ coach Clay Tait was pleased to see his team return to their run-and-carry style of play, rather than looking to kick long down the line when moving the ball forward.

“Aquinas came out and competed really well… We probably had a bit more control over the game than what the scoreboard suggested – we just didn’t convert in the first quarter. But we didn’t panic,” he said.

Tait named ruckman Matt Douglas, who was playing his first senior game in a number of years, among the team’s best.

Aquinas coach Craig Glennie said his side defended well in the first half but were unable to sustain the effort as the game went on. The Bloods are now the only winless team in Division 2, having lost their five matches this season by an average of 93 points.

Round 6 sees the top four teams square off against each other, with West Brunswick looking to continue their strong home form against Old Yarra Cobras, while St Mary’s Salesian will welcome Whitefriars to Ferndale Park. Elsewhere, MHSOB will look to get back on the winners list when they host bottom-of-the-table Aquinas, South Melbourne travel to Canterbury to play the Cobras, and St John’s face off against Hawthorn.