Division 1 Men’s Round 11 Review

Kew (21.14 – 140) def Oakleigh (11.7 – 73)

Kew had a significant win against their final’s finals rivals from last year, Oakleigh, with a margin of 67 points at the final siren. Quite the turnaround after Oakleigh defeated Kew back in round one of this season by five points. Kew started the game with a ten-point lead at the first break, which grew to 22 at halftime half-time, before becoming insurmountable in the third after Kew stacked on 12 goals in the second half.

In a game where goals were flying for Kew, they only had four multiple goal scorers; however, with 14 goals coming from Oscar Kerford, Lachie Brown, and Ned Waters combined, this wasn’t much of a concern. Oakleigh vice-captain Rogan Kitts continues to lead from the front despite his side’s performance, leading the division in goals, one ahead of Will Snookes from Monash, at 41 goals.

Kew will be facing off against St Mary’s Salesian next week, who are coming off a similar winning margin. While far ahead on percentage, Kew will need the win to keep ahead of Oakleigh and St Mary’s on points and stay a game ahead of those fighting for the top four. Oakleigh will be returning home this week to play against the Monash Blues.

Parkside (14.13 – 97) def Old Yarra Cobras (4.1 – 25)

The Old Yarra Cobras struggled again in round 11, this time against Parkside, who are breaking away from the pack in second place on the ladder. Parkside kept the Cobras scoreless in the first quarter, building a margin of 47 points by half-time as they scored eight goals to one in the first half. A small win for the developing Cobras was that they matched Parkside’s scoring in the final term, going six points apiece.

With Prahran having a couple losses in a row, Parkside have developed a two-win lead over third place. However, Parkside coach Rick Frost isn’t thinking of finals just yet, with big competition right around the corner. Looking at the weeks ahead, Frost said, “There are so many variables that finals feel light years away at the moment. Preston this week and then Kew, who look like they are flying at the moment.” When looking at the win against the Cobras, Frost specifically highlighted “James Heaney on the wing, who was great, as was Ryan Williams.”

As mentioned above, Parkside will be up against Preston in round 12 and will hope to give the ladder leaders their first loss of the season. Old Yarra will be travelling to face Brunswick on the weekend; the developing side is still hoping to notch a win and build the side.

Preston Bullants (10.11 – 71) def Prahran (8.10 – 58)

The Preston Bullants remain on their undefeated streak despite being pushed in the final term by Prahran. The Bullants were on top of the scoring for the first three quarters of the game, despite Prahran being able to hold Preston back defensively better than most sides this season. A late push by Prahran in the fourth, scoring 17 to Preston’s nine, was not quite enough to stop the Bullants recording their eleventh win of the season. A margin of 13 points being the closest the Bullants have been to losing since their round one match-up against Prahran.

For Prahran assistant coach Patrick Marks, the key to the game was pressure, as he explained the side’s goal going into the game. Marks said, “Yeah it was a good battle, we have a lot of players unavailable at the moment, but we were confident if we kept at them all day with pressure, we could get the result we were after.” Despite the loss, Marks was impressed by his side’s performance. He said there were “great individual efforts from Rory Brodie in the ruck all day, along with Ollie Burke in the middle, who was able to limit the impact of his opponent while playing some great footy offensively as well.”

In round 12, Preston will try to keep their streak going against second-placed Parkside, while Prahran will hope to rebuild some momentum against a struggling UHS-VU side.

Brunswick (17.7 – 109) def Monash Blues (8.4 – 52)

On the weekend, Brunswick were the victors over the Monash Blues by a fair margin of 57 points. A dominant first half built the lead, with Brunswick scoring 11 goals to Monash’s three, and while Monash were able to reduce this lead in the third quarter, it wasn’t enough to make the margin competitive.

Despite the struggling season, Monash Blues forward Will Snookes has been keeping in touch with the leading goalkickers in the division this season. Brunswick, however, kept him to two goals on the weekend; Snookes remained the side’s only multiple goal scorer. Whereas Brunswick had five players hit the scoreboard multiple times, led by Jackson Davis with four, and deputy vice-captain Thomas Wilson with three.

Monash will be travelling in round 12 to play against Oakleigh, who are coming off a bad loss to their rivals, while Kew will be playing for pride this week. Brunswick, however, will be hosting the Old Yarra Cobras, the developing side still struggling to get their first win on the board.

UHS-VU (9.5 – 59) def St Mary’s Salesian (18.12 – 120)

The final match-up started close, with only a nine-point lead to St Mary’s at the first break. However, inaccurate kicking from University High School–Victoria University, and St Mary’s getting the ball rolling, enabled the margin to widen. St Mary’s took a 25-point lead into the half-time break and went on to score ten goals to five in the second half. St Mary’s Salesian eventually won by 61 points, allowing them to keep in touch with the top four and finals contention.

St Mary’s coach Heath Chipperfield was impressed by his squad’s all-round performance. He said he “thought we were pretty consistent across the four quarters and were able to capitalise in the last when it opened up.” He gave particular praise to some of his side’s midfielders and young guns, saying “Midfielders were able to hit the scoreboard and 19-year-olds Charlie Matthews and Tom Voller kicked 7 between them.” He also noted some of the changes the side has been developing, being impressed by Luke McKay, Ed Bourke, and Lewis Powell, who all stood out in new roles.

Next week, St Mary’s will be hosting an on-fire Kew side, another team coming off a substantial win. While UHS-VU will be facing off against Prahran, who will have a bit to prove coming off two losses in a row against solid sides.