Round 6

"It probably wasn't going our way early, they were on top, to be fair, we were just hanging in there, so to come back in the end, you can't buy experience like that"

Albury co-coach Shaun Daly

North Albury's Josh Murphy finds himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons after the Hoppers nail-biting 2 point ANZAC Day loss to Albury.

The youngster copped a yellow card & found himself in the book for rough conduct - given 2 weeks, which was upheld at the tribunal.
He also struggled to impose himself on the scoreboard despite plenty of opportunity with 1.6.

All may well have been forgiven had he converted a shot after the siren to steal the win, but alas, the ball slid across the face for a minor score, extending the Tigers run over the Hoppers to 29 games.

The Doggies are on a 4 match win streak after dishing out another hiding to the Raiders. Having fixed their early goalkicking yips, Wodonga are showing why they cracked finals last year. Noah Bradshaw has been the absolute standout, in the best in all 5 games.

On the other side of the coin, the Raiders appear a long way off the pace after an off-season of promise. Being kept goalless by the Doggies in the 2nd & 4th terms has done zero favours for their percentage, particularly with an average losing margin of 82 points.

Wang storm to their first win with a monster final quarter. Only 3 points in it at the last change, the Maggies dominated from the centre, taking the game away from the Saints in minutes.

But it came at a cost, as Brad Melville limped off during that spree in his return from a hammy, suffering a fractured pinkie toe. Out for at least 3 weeks while in a moon boot, he’ll be sweating on weather or not he needs to go under the knife.

The Maggies were also down a rotation within 10 minutes, Ryan Battin off with a crook ankle, and Cal Moore unable to finish the game, visibly frustrated while holding his hammy on the timber. With confirmation that another star in Dan Sharrock is out for the season having torn his ACL, Wang are hobbling to the bye.

A result as expected at John Foord, with the ladder leaders Yarra handling business against Corowa. The Roos won the last quarter, but the result was already in the books by that stage.

Leigh Williams made up some ground on North's Josh Minogue with 5 goals, now trailing by 3 on 18, while there's concern at Corowa with star forward Sam Dunstan proppy on his ankle, but battling through the game. He'll have the extra week off to heal, hoping to take on Myrt.

Lavi host the standalone match finishing this split round, where the Panthers will fancy themselves a chance of a big upset against the undefeated Rovers.

"I can't sugarcoat a draw and it was disappointing... it's an unacceptable performance. We are not happy with it… when both sides kicked 5.11, it probably tells you a lot about the standard of the match"

Howlong co-coach Matt McDonald

A worrisome result for Howlong that will likely haunt come the latter end of the season, sharing the points with BB.

Spiders co-coach Matt McDonald pulled no punches when describing the match, despite missing a host of regulars in captain Dylan Cook, Azzi Medallist Hamish Clarke, Jarred Lane, Tyler Lampe & Isaac Bunge.

They’ll need to be much improved when they host Holbrook, who’ll be looking to bounce back themselves.

CDHBU have rolled Holbrook for the first time since 2016, even without the services of prized recruit Darcy Melksham who missed with turf toe.

It's a win the Power hope will propel them deep into this season, but don't herald in a changing of the guards too soon, as the Hoppers were without half of their '23 grand final team.

Still, promising signs for the faithful out at Coreen, and they’ll be full of confidence heading into match of the round away to Jindera.

Henty kept Culcairn goalless, cruising to a 127 point win.

Jordan Klemke & Shannon Turlich had fun with 4 goals apiece, while Gus Maclean & Tom Newton joined in with 3 each.

Things certainly won’t be as easy when the Swampies head to Rand to face the Giants.

Lockhart will take plenty from their 21 point loss to last year's preliminary finalists in RWW.

The Giants looked as though they might blow the game open at the main break with a 6 goal to 3 second term. The Dees were forced to dig deep, narrowly winning the second half, but ultimately failing to reel in the margin in a meaningful way.

They will be looking to build on that effort when they welcome the Maggies to Lockhart.

Murray got the better of Billabong, winning their second second game by under a kick.

Inaccuracy in the first term will haunt the Crows, falling to a 4.1 (25) to 1.6 (12) deficit, but they found their sights in the second with 4.2 while restricting the Maggies, taking a 4 point lead into the main break.

A genuine arm wrestle developed from there, with Billabong maintaining the narrowest of leads heading into the final, but Murray took the most of the even opportunities with a 5 point win.

The Crows should get on the board vs Culcairn this week.

Osborne are setting the standard, dismantling Jindera by 48 points.

The Tiges were forced to work their way into the game down at the first break, but turned a 9 point deficit into a 4 goal lead at the half and only motored home from there.

George Alexander bagged another 4, claiming the lead in the goalkicking stakes now 3 clear of Lockhart's Ron Middleton.

Two of the most formidable sides of the past decade plus, it’s now a scary prospect for BB who have the matchup against Osborne.

"Internally we set ourselves for this match because we probably faded late the previous week against Barnawartha and probably didn't put them away as I would have liked”

An ominous warning from Chiltern coach Brad Hibberson

Chiltern flogged Thurgoona in a sinister display to remain the only unbeaten outfit.

Keeping the Doggies goalless in the first half, reigning back-to-back Swans B&F Kyle Cooper ran riot. Fed by Jeremy Luff without much contest in the ruck, the Dogs minus big man Tim Osmotherly, Cooper regularly found his target in veteran Mark Doolan who finished the day with 8 snags, or Ethan Boxall who provided second option for 4.

One thinks the Swans will again prove too powerful for Tallangatta.

Mitta handed Tallangatta a reality check in their 28 point win, ending the Hoppers unbeaten start.

Having done their homework, the Mountain Men managed to hold in form Hopper forwards James Breen & Kaine Parsons to 4 goals between them, while former Raiders Tom Gibbs (4) and Shane Munro proved their worth to help push Mitta into the top 5.

Mitta will have to string another 4 quarters together when they head in town to face Wodonga.

The Saints made Barny work, trailing by just 4 points at the half.
But the Tiges took the challenge in the 3rd kicking 6.5 to the solitary point, eventually running out just shy of 10 goal winners.

7 time club B&F & Barny great Josh Spence made an inspirational return after nearly 2 years on the sidelines from a broken leg.

The Tiges play host to Rutherglen in an interesting matchup this week.

On paper, Rutherglen's 3 goal loss to KSC looks honourable, but the final scoreline is deceiving when you dig a little deeper.

The Hawks kept the Cats in the game, converting only a third of their 30 shots on, even having to come from behind at the last change.

With +13 scoring shots, this is a percentage boost that KSC let slip, and they’ll need to rectify it this week when battle the Bushies for 2nd spot.

No such troubles for Beechworth, who destroyed DMB by 40 odd goals.

Lachie Armstrong shot back into the goalkicking conversation with 11. He now sits equal third with Mitta's Nick Hynes on 16, behind Barny's Jack Chesser (20) & Tallangatta's James Breen (22).

The Bombers will be up against it again when they head to Yack.

Yack brought Wahgunyah crashing back to earth with a crushing 206 point win, Mitch Exton having a field day with 11 goals.

The Roos were 20 goals up at the half, with the Lions registering their only goal for the game in the second term.

Wahgunyah have another tough ask when they take on a Thurgoona outfit keen on redemption.

“We’ve got a few out, but we’ve got enough depth in the side it’s no excuse"

Goorambat coach Ben Wapling

The top 3 looks settled, but Goorambat might prove the next best placed after another comfortable win over Whorouly.

Sully Malay was the standout, supplying plenty to focal point and the Bats only multiple goalkicker in Duane Haebich, who finished with 10.

The challenge now comes as they take on Bright and Bonnie Doon in consecutive weeks.

Bright had little trouble against King Valley with a 20 goal win, the Dalbosco boys Alex & Sam running rampant against the Roos.

Cooper Thomason (36) & Declan Bren (29) both with 8 goals to sit 2nd & 3rd respectively on the goalkickers, behind Greta's Frazer Judd on 38.

Thee Roos simply must bounce back against Whorouly this week.

Greta were never in doubt, taking the game away from North Wang in the first half, 15.5 (95) to 0.5, running out 161 point winners.

Frazer Judd bagged a second 10+ goal haul with 11, while Des Kelly & James McClounan again did as they pleased in the middle.

It shapes as a nasty outcome this week when the Blues are at home to Benalla.

The All Blacks would have been happy taking an 11 point lead into half time, but the young Hoppers proved to have the superior legs, kicking 12 of the remaining 14 goals for the game.

With a spread of 11 goalkickers, Mohyu impressed with an even contributions across the ground as they head into the bye.

Bonnie Doon restricted Milawa to 5.6 (36) in their 50 point win.
The Dees have struggled to make an impact after a much hyped recruiting campaign, being convincingly outclassed by Bombers on the weekend.

It comes after a drubbing at the hands of the Mountain Men, and failing to impress in their R1 win over King Valley.

The Dees are also ones who must do better when they host North Wang, while the Bombers will look to boost their percentage against Tarrawingee.

"The opposition didn't have enough key defenders to play on all our big forwards so whoever got the mismatch got off the chain a bit"

Cudgewa co-coach Dayne Carey

Cudgewa take back top spot with a smacking of Tumba.

The 4 prong attack of key forwards in Guy Telford (7), Adam Prior (5), Josh Bartel & reigning premiership coach Drew Cameron, both with 3, overwhelmed the Roos by combining for 18 of the Blues 24 goals.

It’ll be a similar outcome this week when Cudgewa head to Corryong.

Meanwhile, Bullioh put the Dees to the sword in a 160 point shellacking racking up 50 scoring shots.

Jessie Wellington kicked 8 & new coach Clint Brunnenmeyer bobbed up with 7, helping boost the Doggies percentage well into the 200 realm. 

Bullioh will be looking to cement themselves as the only genuine contender to the Blues when they host Tumba.