Round 7

"It's a coach's mark, to stand up like that and you could see it coming, unfortunately he took it, so well done"

Lavi coach Adam Schneider on 'that' mark

The Rovers have maintained their unblemished record, surviving 4 final term lead changes to outlast Lavi in a 3 point thriller.

Shane Gaston earned best on with his bag of 6, which could have been 7 if not for Jono Spina imitating Heath Shaw's 2010 grand final replay heroics.

But it was Sam Murray saving the day, as the Panthers pressed hard with repeat inside 50's late in the piece. The coach literally rose to the occasion, taking a proper screamer over Lavi big man "Rooster" Oosterhoff and snuffing out hope for the Panthers.

In further good news for the Rovers, Murray has signed on to lead his chargers forward again next season.

Lavi head down the highway to take on Wang this week, no doubt thinking the Maggies are ripe for the picking without Brad Melville & Dan Sharrock. But the Pies have Pat Naish, Tyler Norton, Cam Barrett & Jessie Smith all named on return from injury.

They'll still need to quell Billy Glanville, Tom Hargreave & Tim Hanna, who have all contributed solidly in the Panthers win over Albury & narrow losses to the Raiders, Yarrawonga and Rovers for a combined 20 points.

It's anyone's guess what happens here, but make no mistake, this is season defining stuff for both clubs.

Who'd have thought at the start of the year we'd be salivating at North v Rovers?

2 v 3, and maybe a taste of what's to come on September.

The Hoppers snuck one through the Rovers last year, and they're a far more impressive outfit this season, particularly at home. But the Rovers keep finding a way to get the job done, so this'll be one for the ages.

The Battle of the Border between Wodonga and Albury shapes as a ripper. The Doggies are flying at the moment under Jack O'Sullivan, and Albury look vulnerable, moreso after emerging defender Jay Hillary was ruled out for the remainder of the season after doing his ACL. But in a stroke of luck for the Tiges, Lucas Conlan is back to sure up the back 6.

If ever there'd been a time & place for the Doggies though, 2 PM at Martin Park is it.

Myrt & Corowa do battle for their first points of the season.

The Saints had a nasty little gift prepared for the Roos in the form of one of the greatest to ever play the game, Gablett Jr. As luck would have it for the returning club, the Little Master won't feature due to injury.

Yarra host the Raiders at JC Lowe where they'll keep their head above the pack, particularly with Leigh Masters making his return. The boys from Birallee will just be desperately hoping to find a competitive edge after a dismal few outings.

"It's always a tough situation when someone gets seriously injured, but these things happen in footy every now and then"

A stoic Lions coach Tim Haines

Another match has prematurely ended out Culcairn way, a fortnight on from the 2's match between the Lions & Lockhart being abandoned due to an extended wait for ambos.

Fast forward, Billabong were up by 25 points in the second term of the main game when a crude Adam Lamb tackle left Lion Pat Wall with concussion and a broken collarbone.

The match was abandoned and the points split (not reflected on PlayHQ) after another long wait for medical help. Also sounds like the umps formed a makeshift MRO panel prior to deciding weather the tackle is reportable, but there’s little news out of that camp.

Culcairn, ravaged by injury will head into town to tackle Murray.

Lockhart secured the W against Murray despite heavy woes in front of the big sticks, missing sharp shooting Ronnie Middleton with a crook knee from the match against RWW. Little worry though as the Maggies could only muster 2 goals, both by Reilly Mitchell.

Jordy Harrington & coach Tom Keogh both bobbed up with 2 apiece as well for the Dees, but 7.16 (58) isn’t going to cut it going forward against the remainder of the teams with eyes on September, nor potentially this week when they face the Henty at the Swamp with Middleton out again.

The Giants also struggled in front of goal, slotting 10.19 (79) against a gallant Henty.

RWW co-coach Dan Athanitis said prior to season starting that the key to offsetting the loss of Nathan Wardius would be spreading the load. They’ve been doing to perfection with 18 individual goalkickers to date, but they’ve yet to kick more goals than points in a game.

If the Giants can get that aspect right, then they look primed to take it up to Osborne after they surely take care of business at Urana this week.

Jindera took the chocolates over CDHBU by 19 points in a low scoring affair.

The Power were exposed without their 2 main forward targets in Ryan Beveridge & Corey Smith due to injury, as well as coach Kyle Docherty who's yet to feature this season, failing to register multiple majors until the 3rd term.

It's not all doom & gloom though, as the score line ultimately flattered the Doggies with a goal after the final siren to spearhead Trent Castles pushing the margin beyond 3 goals.

The Power will be buoyed by the return of all 3 forwards when they host a battling Howlong at Coreen.

After a disappointing showing last week, the Spiders welcomed back a host of their best to take on Holbrook.

Solid signs early as Howlong took the lead into the first break, but that's where the good news ends. The Brookers came out breathing fire, piling on 10 goals to 1 to essentially snatch the 4 points in that quarter alone.

Finding some form has come at the ideal time for Holbrook, who host Osborne in a rematch of the past 2 Grand Finals. The Brookers will be up against it, still well below full strength, but will surely put on a show for their 20 year premiership reunion.

As expected, BB provided little resistance to Osborne in a 125 point loss, even with coach Aalbers calling the shots from the sideline.

George Alexander (23) extended his lead on the goalkicking charts with 7, taking him 6 clear of the Brookers Luke Gestier (17), while Coolamon recruit Max Hillier continues to impress.

The Saints face another tough ask this week with Jindera heading out to Burrum.

"We certainly wanted to honour the great man and thankfully we were able to rise to the occasion"

Bushies coach Tom Cartledge on 'Grub's' 300th

Beechworth held out KSC in favourite son Brenton Surrey's 300th.

Not many would have envisioned the outcome after the Bushies lost far more than they gained over the off-season. But in what's effectively an 8 point win, they now sit clear in second, their only loss to date against the reining premiers Chiltern in R1.

Meanwhile, the Hawks have fallen outside the 5 after failing to align their sights in front of goal, an issue that kept Rutherglen in the game last week now costing them dearly.

They'll have spent time in front of the big sticks at training this week, as they search to dislodge Barny from 5th at home to the Tiges.

Internally, Wodonga would have felt they were building to an upset, having been in matches against Tallangatta & Barny until the half before fading, but they've stunned Mitta with the W in their best result against the Mountain Men since a 2019 draw.

The Saints now look like they could on a run, with matches against cellar dwellers DMB & Wahgunyah, and will fancy themselves a big chance against Rutherglen.

Meantime, Mitta have their backs against the wall sitting 8th ahead of a month of torment with Thurgoona, Chiltern, Yack and Beechworth.

Certainly not made easier by the retirement of Jarrod Hodgkin due to ongoing concussion issues.

Thurgoona had 70+ scoring shots in their 241 point hiding of Wahgunyah.

Jake Bruce the main recipient with 8, while 11 team mates bobbed up with goals, 8 with multiple.

The Doggies need to sort out the Mountain Men this week to retain their spot in the top 5.

Nick Donaghey made an impact on his return to the Yack lineup, as well as emerging forward Ethan Roach, both with a handful of goals as the Roos heaped pain on DMB with 20 scoring shots in the final term alone.

Yack head to Chiltern with a solid confidence booster in an effort to claim the biggest of scalps.

Meanwhile, the Swans are sitting pretty with where they're at, coach Brad Hibberson recommitted to the club for next year along with assistant coach Dion Gleeson, former Albury jet Luke Daly, co-captain Ben Mason, Jeremy Luff, Jack Gray, Mitch McLean & Kurtis Corrin following suit in an effort to extend their golden era.

Elsewhere, Jack Chesser (27) leads the goalkickers with a bag of 7 in Barny's touch up of Rutherglen, 1 ahead of Tallangatta's James Breen (26) who was the Hoppers only multiple goalkicker in their loss to the rampaging Swans.

The Cats have another tough ask against the Bushies, while the Hoppers will get back on the winners list against the Lions.

“They’re a bit vulnerable at the moment, I think they’ve got a couple of injuries – it might be a chance to give them a good shake”

Moyhu coach Darren Bell playing pre-match mind games with Milawa

Milawa were caught sleeping at the wheel, jumped by North Wang 3 goals to zip in the opening term.

Whatever was said at the quarter time huddle must have stung them into action though, restricting the Hawks to just another 5 points for the game. A 9.1 final quarter by the Dees rectified poor sights in the 3rd where they converted just 1 of their 8 shots on.

Milawa head to Mohyu who are fresh off the bye, and cannot slip up against the keen, young Hoppers if they're serious about September.

Cooper Thomason (43) climbs back to the top of the table with 7 snags in Bright's 49 point win over Goorambat.

Thomason & the remainder of his potent forward trio in Declan Bren (29) & Luke Quirk (17) will have to wait at least another fortnight to notch up 100 goals between them, which you'd think they'll do v North Wang after the bye.

It'll only be round 8 by then, mind you!

Meanwhile, the Bats have another big ask in Bonnie Doon, who smacked Tarra by nearly 30 goals in a game where Bombers Peter Cairns, Matt Hedin & Will Foster continued their stellar seasons with little opposition.

Despite the regular drubbings, the Doggies could well exploit the Hawks this week.

Greta's Frazer Judd (41) is next best of the goalkickers, who played 2nd fiddle with 3 to fellow Blue Cody Crawford's 7 (32) in Greta's 20+ goal demolition of Benella.

Des Kelly, Jimmy McClounan and Lachie Kennett all in the best, forging one of the League's most formidable midfield brigades.

They'll be tough to stop, a task set for Whorouly this week at Greta.

King Valley have overcome a sluggish start to get the job done over Whorouly in a thriller. 

The Roos were forced to claw their way back into it, having been jumped by the Lions 5 goals to zip in the opening term. But a high pressure game bogged things down in a battle of attrition where the boys from Whitfield managed to restrict Whorouly to just 2 further goals for the match while chipping away at the margin, eventually recording a memorable 1 point victory.

The Roos will take that confidence into their clash with Benella, certainly getting back-to-back wins.

"It's a bit strange how we don't meet Cudgewa again to round 6, but the positive is we get another couple of weeks to work on a few more things because it's going to be another close one I think"

Bullioh coach Clint Brunnenmeyer on fixture quirks heading into a general bye

Doggies coach Clint Brunnenmeyer stepped up with 6 sausage rolls, filling the void left by Ash Murray who's had the past fortnight off with other commitments.

Little to worry about though, as Marcus Roberts (clearly released by Culcairn after a bitter battle over his services) fed a well spread attack off half-back, helping Bullioh to an 87 point win over Tumba.

Meanwhile, Cudgewa had zero trouble against Corryong recording a 178 point win.

Former KSC spearhead Guy Telford took his season tally to 23 with an 11 goal haul, while Dayne Carey (7) & Adam Prior (5) chipped in with bags.

Now, there's been some pretty big thumpings around the grounds this season, but check out what these poor bastards over in a D6 Adelaide comp had to endure over the weekend.

That's a goal a minute!

I'd bet some of those blokes would near on be keen to come over and only have to cop a 200 pointer.

Sheesh…