South Melbourne soars into the top four after trouncing MHSOB

Three of the four finalists in Division 2 Men’s have been decided, but which team will steal fourth spot?

An inaccurate West Brunswick did enough to secure a 25-point win over Aquinas at Ransford Oval, guaranteeing their finals spot as the Magpies are hopeful of a return to Division 1 in 2026. The visitors registered the opening goal of the match in the first minute, but West Brunswick responded immediately through William Dillon. Although Aquinas got within two straight kicks on multiple occasions throughout the match, they could never get themselves back into the contest.

“We had the first shot in the last [quarter] which just missed – if that had gone through it would have been interesting,” said Bloods coach Craig Glennie. “[But] they answered with the next goal and didn’t really give us any more opportunities.” Glennie praised his side for the tackle pressure and their ability to transition the ball through the Magpies’ zone on several occasions. West Brunswick coach Regain Tait felt Aquinas had improved significantly since the two teams last met in Round 4, which saw the Magpies win by 128 points, and was pleased with the way his charges ground out the win.

Whitefriars kept their finals chances alive with a 50-point victory over Hawthorn at Rathmines Road Reserve, sitting half a game outside the top four. The Friars had five multiple goal scorers (Max Paten, Lian Stanborough, Benjamin Galtieri, Thomas Jacotine, and Tom Rumble) as the club recorded their first away win since Round 2 when they squeezed past St John’s by two points.   

Hawthorn coach Mark Murray said his side had no answers for the likes of Jacotine, Max Warrick, and Ethan Wu, but was pleased by the performance of his young, developing side. “They all had a crack and are eager to learn, I love that,” Murray said. Murray felt some of his more experienced charges set a great example for the others: “Phil Edgar played with a cracked rib and was outstanding, while Caleb Loorman was fantastic under pressure in the backline,” he said.

South Melbourne Districts put a dent in MHSOB’s chances of playing finals with a commanding 94-point victory at Lindsay Hassett Oval. The Bloods kicked six goals to none in the first quarter and five goals to one in the second to take a ten-goal lead into the main break before extending the margin with 11 goals to six in the second half. Zephyr Howson snagged four for the home side, with Jasper Corke, Thomas Foley, and Conor Jacoby also hitting the scoreboard with three each.

Bloods coach Nick Abbott said it was great to see a four-quarter performance from his side, especially when a loss would have meant South Melbourne would have been eliminated from the finals race. The Bloods have played – and won – four games at home over the last month, and Abbott is hopeful this momentum will continue next week in their final home game of the regular season. “Finishing with so many consecutive games at home has helped us unite, and now we believe we can surprise any opposition on our day,” he said.

A severely undermanned St John’s travelled to Glen Iris and were overrun by ladder leaders St Mary’s Salesian. The JOC’s, who forfeited the reserves match after an injury crisis left senior coach Tim Edwards with just 25 players to pick from, were held scoreless in the first quarter. The visitors fought back across the second and third quarters but ultimately ran out of legs in the last quarter, allowing the Saints to turn a 48-point three-quarter time lead into a 90-point final margin.

Nick Beer, Ben Robinson, and Shannon Marsh were again among the best for St John’s, with Edwards also pleased by the performances of second-year senior player Jayden Rudd and debutant Rahul Rai. Rai, whose 10 reserves games this season are the extent of his footballing career, kicked a goal with his first touch in the seniors.

Jacob McElroy had a season-high nine goal haul for St Mary’s, leapfrogging West Brunswick’s Herbert Fithall to join Old Yarra’s Jack Hall at the top of the goalkicking charts with 53 for the year. “He had a good day, was probably a combination of some good ball use inside 50 as well as leading to good spots,” St Mary’s coach Clay Tait said of McElroy’s performance.

Old Yarra Cobras bounced back after last week’s loss to St Mary’s with a 65-point win over their serpentine rivals Canterbury at the Canterbury Sportsground. It took until the twelfth minute for Old Yarra’s Jack Hall to register the first goal of the game, but this opened the floodgates with Anthony Raso, Elliot Brandon-Jones, and Jude Bateman adding a further three goals in as many minutes to stun Canterbury into action. The visitors held an 11-point lead at the first change and continued to apply pressure as the match went on, increasing the margin to 37 points at half time and 48 points at three quarter time.

Old Yarra coach Nathan Monaco said he had put the heat on his midfield group after their performance last week and got the response he wanted, with James Fleming leading the way in a side that featured eight changes. Two of the players who came into the side after the Round 15 loss were Cruz Robinson and Zach McLeod, playing their first and second senior games for the year. “The young blokes played super all game,” Monaco said.

Monaco was pleased with Old Yarra’s resilience in snapping Canterbury’s six-game winning streak, which started the week after Old Yarra won the previous encounter between the two sides by 55 points. “Steve has done a huge job turning the tide with Canterbury. We knew they were going to be throwing everything at us, so for us to go in there and get the win the way we did is very pleasing.”

Monaco also praised the one-two forward punch of Hall and Raso, who finished with six goals apiece. “It was great to see Raso back to his usual self, in just his second game back after seven weeks out.”

The penultimate round of the Division 2 Men’s competition sees Old Yarra Cobras host Hawthorn and Aquinas face off against ladder-leaders St Mary’s Salesian. The three remaining matches have important implications for the make-up of the top four, with Whitefriars (fifth, 34 points), MHSOB (sixth, 32 points), and Canterbury (seventh, 28 points) all needing wins against West Brunswick (third, 44 points), St John’s (eighth, 20 points), and South Melbourne (fourth, 36 points) to keep their finals hopes alive.