Loy Yang B Gippsland Power went into their round eleven TAC Cup match facing a stern challenge of their depth and focus when they took on the highly rated Murray Bushrangers. Both sides were without key players due to state duties but, the Power had ten of its best players out due to the under-18 nationals, VFL duties and serious injuries. Despite doing a lot to prepare their rookies for such a challenge, they still had to call up five debutants and were subsequently behind the eight-ball for such a serious test of their ability to cope with such pressure.
Captain, Tim Membrey, Nick Graham, Wil Hams, Ryley Hall, Jack Leslie and Ben Kearns were playing for Vic Country against the Metro boys while Anthony “Walla” Tipungwuti was with the territory side against Queensland. Adding to this scenario was the fact that hard-nut Shannen Lange was stepping up to the VFL with Casey Scorpions and Kaine Allen and Tom Fusinato were unavailable due to serious injury issues.
Some who study the basic football stats will assume that the Power responded well to this situation as they were highly competitive for three of the four quarters of the game but only let themselves down in the second term. Nothing could be further from the truth however as they were comprehensively outplayed by the Bushies and any denial of this would severely underplay the problems facing the side as they move into the business side of the season. The only positive on the day was the presence of AFL stars Dyson Heppell and Nathan Vardy who came to support their younger brothers in the game.
Lachie Channing set a good example early in the game when he charged through a pack and kicked a fine goal. Similar hard and clever play by Drew McGrath set up Matt Northe for the sides second but, ominously, the Bushies hit back immediately with two relatively simple majors as a consequence of fundamental Power skill and thinking errors. Good forward pressure allowed Josh Scott to kick a timely reply for the Power but the Bushies hit back easily again to take a seven point lead into the first change.
It was hard for the Power to score due to the constant pressure applied by the Bushies but they scored much more simple goals as a consequence of some poor Power play in attack and through the midfield. This scenario stood out in the second term when the Bushranger piled on ten goals with ridiculous ease and the Power struggled to allow Simon Deery to kick their only goal for the quarter. The Bushies cut the Power to pieces with their disciplined and skilful play especially when they were on the rebound after a Power error up the field. By the long break the contest was over as the Bushie led by sixty-two points and had the Power at their mercy.
Nick Stevens really highlighted just what was going wrong for the boys during the break and then challenged them strongly to work harder and smarter in the second half. However, things got worse early in the third quarter when the Bushies scored another simple goal. To their credit, the Power responded positively and some clever hands by Nate Paredes set up rookie Brenton “Mango” Hillard for a vital reply. The talk by Nick had obviously been listened to by the Power as they worked hard to shut down the Bushies ability to score.
Some great forward pressure by the Power gave Deery his second for the game and by the end of the quarter the Bushies run seemed to have stopped and they went into the last term fifty six points up. The last term was more of the same for the Power as they upped the ante in terms of defensive skills and made better decisions when going into attack. Northe showed some fine skills give Paul Pattison a fine goal and Deery marked strongly to score another for the Power.
By the final siren the margin had been reduced to forty-five points and the Bushies had been kept goalless by the Power but, it would be a huge mistake to place too much credit on that situation when the Bushies had the game sewn up by half time. To highlight just how poorly the Power had responded to the hard-working Bushies, Nick had to point out that the boys were very disappointing after the game when it appeared that they hadn’t taken the loss seriously as they came back into the rooms. He spoke very well on that issue and set the boys a severe challenge for the rest of the season.
Final scores Murray Bushrangers 15 goals 12 behinds 102 points defeated Loy Yang B Gippsland Power 8 goals 9 behinds 57 points. Goal kikckers, Simon Deery 3, Matt Northe, Lachie Channing, Josh Scott, Paul Pattison and Brenton Hillard 1. On a day when the Power defence was under the pump due to easy forward fifty entries by the Bushies, Josh Cashman stood tall and worked very hard to defeat his opponents as well as trying to set up positive attacking play when under pressure. It’s a pity that his work ethic wasn’t followed by more team mates.
Brenton Hillard made the most of his step up into the big time with a top four-quarter effort in the midfield. He put himself into the thick of every contest and worked hard to use the possessions with purpose. When given space, he looked at home despite the standard of the opposition. Jarryd Drew responded manfully to the many challenges thrown down by the Bushies and made a real impact when he was on the ball. He won many important contested possessions and applied consistent and effective pressure on opponents all over the field.
Half back Aaron Heppell was another to stand tall against incredible pressure when the Bushies were able to attack so often and so easily. He soundly shut down his opponents as well as winning important possessions himself regardless of the pressure that he was under. Up forward Josh Scott tired hard all day to give team mates an effective avenue to attack with his aerial skills and ability to apply pressure in contested issues. He was able to win the ball himself and to use it with some poise and skill. On-baller Nate Paredes has established a fine reputation for his hardness in contested issues all over the ground. He has be put into the sides renowned “Bruise Brothers” unit with Shannen Lange and again was one of the key play makers for the team.
The Power now goes into another important game against their “archrivals” the Dandenong Stingrays who always give the Power tough opposition regardless of respective ladder positions. While still without many star players due to the nationals, the Stingers will respond to the challenge of playing the Power with gusto. After seeing how easily the Bushies were able to thrash them, they will be well schooled to take advantage of the weaknesses that they exploited so well against the Power.
Nick will work very hard to address the many faults in the mental and physical application of the side last week and will use selection as a critical tool to fix the problems. As well as this he will challenge some key individuals to lift after some sub-standard form in the Bushies game and it certain that the need to get some pride back will be important for these boys as they try to get back on track in readiness for the rest of the 2012 season.
Last Modified on 12/11/2012 09:29