BOMBERS, SAINTS FACE GUTCHECK
By Louie Bulzomi
The Round 12 spotlight is on the Millewa Netball League with its 50th anniversary celebrations. However, the footballers still have work to do; none more so than Euston and Bambill, whose finals and double-chance hopes respectively hang in the balance.
The Bombers slumped to their sixth loss in seven matches last week. And there may be more bloodletting to come when they take on flag favourites Werrimull at Aero Oval.
Badly timed turnovers up the ground and tiring final quarter bodies have hurt Euston dearly in recent weeks, despite the brave efforts of Daniel Farnsworth, Tom Healy, Zane Hammet, Cameron Browne and Cleon Hannah in defence. If they are to be any chance, they will need to maintain a significant efficiency rate by foot when entering the forward 50 and work twice as hard to lock the Magpies down on the rebound.
Werrimull’s player depth is arguably the best going around. Last week, Mark Thornton and Dan Smith played blinders in the absence of Michael Harradine and Matt Kelly. Ryan Tierney and Shannon Anthony weren’t fazed by not having Jamie Keenan, Chris McGregor and Jamie Roberts around. And Colby Loxton, Brenden Marr and Adrian Sharman all contributed well. With so many players in good form, and confidence building, they should be too strong.
The Saints’ rollercoaster season continues, dropping their last two after winning their previous four. Consequently, they trail Gol Gol by two games in the battle for second, and must beat Nangiloc at Mildura Senior College to remain in touch.
Not even the much anticipated debut of Jake Stanbrook was enough to get Bambill over the line last week, as perennial forwards David Hall, Michael Hickey and Luke Stanbrook were well held. Brant Reid’s five goals and the efforts of Luke Hubble, Justin Merrett and Paul Lewis were positives, however, so all is certainly not lost in terms of defending their title and they should bounce back this week.
If games of football lasted only three quarters, the Demons could be premiership contenders! Alas, that isn’t the case, so the search for buried treasure containing four premiership points painfully continues. Despite that misery, what has heartened supporters lately has been the inclusion of Luke Weaver, the successful returns of Sam Lee and Brad Johnson from injury, and the McDonald Medal-like form of Cameron Peters. Their competitiveness can’t be questioned, but unfortunately said treasure may remain buried for at least another week.
Cardross and Gol Gol each have the opportunity to make things extremely difficult for Euston and Bambill respectively when they collide at Carramar Drive.
The Lions required a “Houdini” effort against Nangiloc two weeks ago, raising further queries about their true ability to beat the best. There’s no doubt that their “A-game” is quite scintillating, especially when Andrew Ferguson, Jake and Ethan Zoch, Jayden Boehm, Evan Pitt, Tom Wallace and Ben Ransome are on song. But too often they seem to fall into a “B-game” frame of mind, which cannot happen if they wish to take the Hawks’ scalp and all but seal fourth spot.
The thrashing from Werrimull in Round 9 aside, Gol Gol’s progression has been smooth. With Nick Rodi, Kaleb Sherwell and David Gray lightening Sonny Lindsey’s load up forward, and Tim Vandenberg and Clint Burdett seemingly unstoppable down back and in the middle, the Hawks are steeled for a massive run home and should maintain their healthy gap over Bambill in second place.
Last Modified on 20/07/2012 17:21