Power House, Canterbury and Whitefriars continue unbeaten run: Div 2 Men’s Round in Review

Power House, Canterbury and Whitefriars all continued their unbeaten starts to the season, while Therry Penola recorded their first win of the year. Read the Division 2 Men’s full round in review.

Therry Penola 13.5.83 def MHSOB 10.12.72

Therry Penola withstood a last term surge from MHSOB to record their first win of the season in Lucas Ryan’s milestone 250th game.

Patrick Carracher and Jack Viola combined for 10 goals, with Carracher kicking three in a six-goal third term for Therry Penola, setting up a 22-point lead at three-quarter time.  

Therry Penola coach John Tate was pleased with his side’s response after a tight first half. “Breaking even in the stoppages was a focus and with better ball use forward of centre we were able to capitalise with small forwards impacting the contested ball,” Tate said.  

Tate was pleased with his side’s management of last term with the Unicorns throwing everything at them. “Forward pressure created opportunities in the last quarter which we took advantage of, and our defence kept calm to control the ball late in the game taking time off the clock and getting the win,” he said.

Tate’s side will look to build on their first win of the season. “With no injuries from the match, moving forward we hope consistency in the group helps and improving our forward entry is going to trouble opposing teams. Good result, but we must remain focused as it’s an even competition.”

Opposition coach Sean Lester had praise for the victors. “Therry Penola deserves all the credit yesterday. They played Therry Penola footy for a greater percentage of the game than we were able to play MHSOB footy,” Lester said.

Inaccuracy has hurt the Unicorns all year, and this continued as they kicked six behinds in the last. “Bad kicking at goal hurt us across the game, not just the final quarter. Moments against Power House in Round 1, Whitefriars in Round 2, and Saturday, if we kick straighter earlier, the momentum of the game changes.”

Whitefriars 12.16.88 def North Brunswick 8.6.54

Whitefriars continued their unbeaten start to the 2026 season as they were able to pull away from North Brunswick after a tight first half.

North Brunswick’s style of footy troubled Friars in the first half. “We played into their brand and style,” Whitefriars coach Andrew Daou said.

“Especially in the first, we let them have it their way far too easily. They are another really strong contested side that flood deep into defence to make it hard to score.”

Daou was once again pleased with his side’s four-quarter effort. “The maturity again to not panic and understand that we have four quarters to do what needs to be done (was pleasing),” he said.

“We regrouped and were able to flick the switch. We matched them in the contest and then we were able to get the ball moving at pace in which they couldn’t keep up with,” Daou said.

While not getting the result, North Brunswick coach Domenic Fontana saw plenty of positives from his side. “The positives for us were that there were longer patches of good footy than we’ve shown at times this year, and there were periods where our method looked a lot more like what we want. That is something we can keep reinforcing,” Fontana said.

Whilst Whitefriars got on top in the second half, North Brunswick certainly didn’t throw in the towel. “I thought the group stayed in the fight. We weren’t able to get the result, but there was still a willingness to keep competing, and that is something we need to keep building on,” he said.

Elsternwick 14.19.103 def Aquinas 11.9.75

Elsternwick responded to last week’s defeat by putting out a convincing performance against Aquinas to continue their strong start to the season.

Elsternwick coach Oliver Gildea was pleased with his side’s response as Aquinas went out to a two-goal lead early. “It was very important just to get the job done after a loss last week,” he said.

“They actually jumped us early, but we are showing great resolve in turning this around in quarters; credit to the playing group for that.”

Elsternwick’s defence was key in their victory, especially in the first three quarters, with the Wicks only conceding 44 points up to three-quarter time.

“It was a hard ground to play on and especially defend, incredibly small, so we had to be defensively locked in all day. We did a great job of pushing them wide and controlling the corridor,” Gildea said.  

Elsternwick’s ability to score from turnover was key in restoring momentum after Aquinas got out to an early lead.  

“Once Elsternwick switched on, they were able to kick quick goals caused by turnovers. It was good to see we were still able to score when they had the momentum and we actually controlled the footy,” Aquinas coach Josh Quinlan said.

Aquinas finished the game strongly kicking five goals to none in the last quarter.

“We came out and just simplified it a little. We just told them to control your moment. Whether that’s a mark you have to take, a tackle you have to stick or a kick you must hit, just to control the controllable. Probably the first time we have run out the fourth quarter which is good to see, just have to run out all four,” Quinlan said.

Canterbury 18.12.120 def South Melbourne 13.8.86

Canterbury continued their unbeaten start to the season with a convincing win over South Melbourne.

The Bloods were very much in the game at quarter time, kicking three goals in a row to end the first.

However, Canterbury responded after the break kicking five of the six goals of the term. “I was really disappointed with the way we finished off the first quarter. We were not doing the things we know make us a good football side. However, I was absolutely wrapped with the response from every line,” Canterbury coach Steve Brown said.

In a well-rounded performance a number of Cobras stood out. “Michael Topp and Nick Filippis were incredibly attacking with ball in hand all day. It was great having Mark Collins back whose work inside the contest was relentless. He took Finn Cleary under his wing and together they helped us get on top with clearances and stoppages,” Brown said.

Canterbury ended the season last year winning seven out of their last nine games and have carried that momentum and standard into 2026.

“The whole club has just bought in to wanting to be better. Our thirds, reserves and seniors all had really good wins on Saturday, and all the coaches and volunteers are making it a fun place to be off the field, which is getting results on it,” Brown said.

While South Melbourne coach Shaun Gould would have liked his side to get the four points, he saw some positives to come out of the game.

“A fair bit of our system broke down going into the fourth, but we did fight back in the last until the siren. Definitely a positive,” he said. Another positive for the Bloods was an unlikely goal source. “Todd McGrath coming back in and kicking four goals for the first time since he was eight, he says,” Gould added.

Power House 12.11.83 def West Brunswick 7.11.53

Power House have finished the first four weeks of the season on top of the ladder after the Division 2 newcomers continued their unbeaten start with an impressive team performance against West Brunswick.

“It was really hard to find anyone who stood out as it was a pretty even performance,” Power House coach Nick Cox said. “Max McCulluch was important with four goals.”

Power House were able to get on top early due to their strong midfield group, which has been a theme across their four victories this season. “Similar to last week, our centre bounce work was good and connection between our mids and forwards was good,” Cox said.

Power House’s ability to work hard throughout the four quarters allowed them to maintain and build their lead throughout the contest. “(I’m) really pleased that we were able to outwork them in the contest and that our tackle pressure was high,” Cox said.

West Brunswick coach Rick Pograri credited Power House’s scoreboard pressure as a key factor in his side’s inability to regain momentum after quarter time. “We regrouped after quarter time and from there it became a real arm wrestle,” he said.

“We had our moments, but they were able to hit the scoreboard at important times and maintain momentum when it mattered.”

Even though his side failed to get the four points, Pograri saw positives in his side’s performance. “The positive for us was the fight and competitiveness of the group. We stayed in the contest all day and there’s still plenty we can build from,” he said.