Pic: Sammy Wueffen cops a knee to the back of the head as Mayne's Luke Ferguson flies high.
Seniors: Mayne 10.8-68 def. by Maroochy/Northshore 14.4-88 Burleigh 16.12-108 def. Coolangatta Tweed Heads 9.13-67 Wilston Grange 18.11-119 def. Surfers Paradise 14.12-96 Springwood 11.13-79 def. by Palm Beach Currumbin 19.19-133 Sandgate 17.4-106 def Noosa 10.7-67 Reserves Mayne 5.7-37 def. by Maroochy/Northshore 13.11-89 Burleigh 8.6-54 def. by Coolangatta Tweed Heads 10.14-74 Wilston Grange 6.9-45 def. by Surfers Paradise 8.9-57 Springwood 9.8-62 def. Palm Beach Currumbin 6.5-41 Sandgate 12.9-81 def Noosa 7.11-53
TIGERS TAKE IT TO THE ROOS
COACH Peter Somerville was relieved to take Maroochy-Northshore’s season opener against Mayne at Everton Park.
Particularly because he felt the clash was ‘basically our second practice match’.
After Maroochy prevailed by 14.4 (88) to 10.8 (68), Somerville said the big pre-season wet had severely hampered the build-up, although the Roos were not the only club to be affected thus.
“I’m happy to win because we’ve had a poor preparation,” he said. “We’ve hardly had any access to our ground.
“We’ve trained in a hall, we’ve trained on the beach. We had only two sessions on our main ground in a month.”
Maroochy jumped the Tigers with a 4.0 to 1.0 first quarter, then held on to that margin for the remainder of the match.
“They (Mayne) played all right, they’ve recruited pretty well,” said Somerville.
“They have some tall timber and when they get Caleb Brown back they’ll be pretty good.”
Former Mayne and Mt Gravatt defender Tye Morrison was outstanding for the Roos, who also had on-baller Owen Bailey, dual Duncanson-Todd Medallist Ryan White and half-back Thomas Booth in good early season form.
Mayne coach Mitch Ferguson felt his Tigers were well placed for a big run at Maroochy in the fourth quarter when they trailed by only 14 points at three-quarter time.
“I thought then we were right to run over them with the wind behind us, but they kicked four goals into it instead,” he said.
Full-back Matthew Jones was excellent for the Brisbane version of the Tigers, and Ferguson was rapt by the effort of Jeames Gillett, used as a tagger on former Sydney Swan Ben Mathews.
“I thought Jimmy out-possessed Mathews,” said Ferguson, who also was pleased with the performances of ex-Redland Bomber Luke Faulkner up forward and midfielder Jake Magill (formerly with Maroochydore).
HAWKS TALLS DO THE JOB
A HEIGHT advantage, particularly up front late in the game, proved decisive when Sandgate turned the tables on 2010 runners-up Noosa in a tough opener to the new season at Lemke Road Oval.
Beaming Hawks player-coach Ben Long, full of praise for a wholehearted display of intensity and pressure from his players, masterminded a victory for Sandgate to the tune of 17.4 (106) to 10.7 (67).
“I think our midfield matched up well with theirs but I feel the extra talls we had up front helped us,” said Long. ”I was rapt in our intensity and our attack on the footy. It was as good as it has been for a while.”
Long conceded Noosa have lost many class players, particularly in their midfield, but the departure of the 2009 competition’s leading goalkicker Matt Hicks is going to be a big hole for the Tigers to fill, he believes.
Super veteran Danny Dickfos drew significant praise from Long.
“He’s just a great 39-year-old utility these days,” was how Long described the former Brisbane Lions cult figure who is given a free reign with the Hawks these days.
“That’s the beauty of him. He would have taken 20 marks – and you can put him wherever you need him.”
Also starring for the Hawks were ex-Zillmere trio Rob Lucas, Ben Drew and Matt Nuss.
Noosa’s loss has given coach Wayne Fletcher plenty to consider. Of obvious concern is how to cover for the drain of talent that has robbed him of a class spearhead and a midfield squadron second to none.
It is a tough ask for the Tigers to find adequate cover for the departures of the likes of Hicks, Luke Tyrrell, Ryan Jeffrey, Brad Kearney, Scott Maddern, Nick Hammonds, Ben Evans and Sam McCosh.
Stylish ball runner Jay Reynolds carried over his 2009 form into the new season to be best for Noosa, well supported by Brendan Page, Todd Panoho and Brooks Durdin.
WEAKENED LIONS DO ENOUGH
PREMIERS Palm Beach-Currumbin sounded an ominous warning to title challengers with an opening-round victory over Springwood at Lowe Oval.
The Lions took the match by 19.19 (133) to 11.13 (79) and produced some handy-looking local products given the chance to bid for regular first-grade team spots in the absence of 11 of the 2009 grand final side.
That half of their flag-winning side did not play on Saturday suggests the Lions are going to be as strong as ever, yet Springwood did enough to suggest a brighter season ahead under coach Brad Pollock.
“They took it to us,” said PBC coach Craig O’Brien. “They are definitely better – and their seconds beat us. So they’ll definitely win more games this year.
“But we’ll improve, no doubt.”
O’Brien said Arnold Knight, Mikal Bloom, Adrian Hill and Ryan Rodgers are all due back next weekend, and several other premiership keys will filter back as the season wears on.
PBC kicked 5.7 to 0.3 in the third quarter to cement victory, but it was great to hear of the encouragement for Springwood, for too long the competition’s whipping boys.
“We understand Palm Beach had many players out but, to be honest, we had up to six quality players out ourselves,” said Puma boss Pollock.
Matt Hockley was a star for the Pumas at centre half-back, former Morningside under-18 Jacob King was excellent on a wing and later up front, and on-baller Mal Vincent was also prominent.
Most pleasing for the Lions were the performances of a group of young locals, headed by Angus Munro on-ball, Brent Pearson at centre half-forward, Jack Munro (brother of Angus who has switched camps from Coolangatta) at half-back and forward pocket Adam McDonald.
A major talking point to come out of the clash were a string of 50-metre penalties handed out by umpires, apparently operating under new interpretations of the ‘over the mark’ rule.
Both O’Brien and Pollock admitted they were more than puzzled by the rulings and are likely to seek talks with the AFLQ’s umpiring chiefs.
BOMBERS TAKE COAST DERBY
NEW Coolangatta coach Grant McKenzie was not prepared to ‘go on’ about a controversial umpiring decision that served as the rod that broke the backs of the Blues in their Gold Coast derby loss to Burleigh at Bill Godfrey Oval.
Burleigh took the match by 16.12 (108) to 9.13 (67), but only after a hot moment late in the game.
Blues defender Tom Cartledge, recruited from Wodonga, was penalised for a deliberate rushed behind early in the fourth quarter, an incident that led to a yellow card and a second kick for goal for Burleigh.
“That was definitely the nail in the coffin for them,’’ noted Bombers coach Zane Doubleday after Burleigh held a two-point lead at the final break but facing a term running into a four-goal wind.
“We started the final quarter with two goals, then that happened and all of a sudden we’re four goals up.”
McKenzie was loath to criticise the decision, but it clearly hurt his Blues mentally.
“Our bloke (Cartledge) was running from the point post across the goal-mouth and a Burleigh bloke pushed him over the line,” said McKenzie.
“The umpy paid a deliberate rushed behind, our bloke questioned the decision – and not vociferously I might add.
“It was unfortunate, but it happened.”
Burleigh’s match winners were newcomer Simon Fletcher, whose switch to the centre for the final stanza was a winner for Doubleday.
Doubleday also played 195cm Mark Brown on a wing, a telling tactic given Brown took 13 marks and tallied 21 possessions.
Another newcomer, the helmeted Shane Cook, also drew praise for his tireless efforts on a half-back flank.
For Coolangatta, skipper Daniel Hawkins was ‘fabulous’, according to McKenzie, who also had ex-Southport player, defender James Walsh, and ex-Frankston centreman Mark McGill as standouts.
“It was disappointing the way we finished the game,” said McKenzie. “A couple of decisions go against them and they think, ‘well, it’s too hard’.”
GORILLAS DESPATCH THE DEMONS
WHEN first-choice ruckman Mark Pennington broke down at training during the week, Wilston-Grange player-coach decided to put the onus on back-up big man James McMahon for the season opener against Surfers Paradise at Hickey Park.
McMahon answered the call admirably, picking up what Rogers described as ruck-rover statistics as the Gorillas took a free-flowing affair by 18.11 (119) to 14.12 (96).
McMahon was just one of a number of players who pleased the Gorilla hierarchy in a game that featured fourth-quarter scores of 7.2 by both sides.
Centreman Lee Smith stood out for the winners, as did full-forward Dan Collins (four goals) and former Southport lower grade defender Lachlan Moir at full-back. ”About the only downer was that I felt we switched off slightly midway through the last quarter,” said Rogers.
Rebuilding Surfers – hardly recognisable to the side that went through to last season’s preliminary final – fought hard all the way and did well considering the number of star players who have departed the scene.
“We never gave up, that’s for sure,” said n3ew coach Robbie Martin. “They were just a bit cleaner in the middle of the ground and their on-ballers hurt us.
“But we feel we certainly have something to work with. There were two or three players in the seconds who were excellent today.”
Half-back Sean Atkinson won the nod as best Demon, ahead of wingmen Simon Fenton and Jordan Pope and ruckman Matt Goonan.
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