In this week’s Eastland In and Under column, Media Manager Ryan Long gives you his key takeaways from the weekend that was.
The King Lives
Many were quick to doubt Vermont in 2023 after losing their opening match at home against Berwick, myself included, but the Eagles’ spirited performance at Mullum Mullum Reserve on Saturday shows they can’t be underestimated.
The young list was dominant from the first bounce with a six-goal to zip opening term, outscoring Norwood each quarter on their way to a 72-point thumping.
Former premiership player with the Eagles, Matt Willcocks returned to the club this season and provided a big spark on Saturday.
His role on the half-back line was a big reason why the Eagles were so strong defensively, keeping Norwood to just five goals for the afternoon. Willcocks had 18 disposals at 83% efficiency, taking 10 marks, five intercept marks, five spoils and seven rebound 50’s.
Down at the other end of the ground, Vermont had five multiple goal scorers including Kalcovski who finished with three.
Vermont takes on East Ringwood next week, re-sparking the old rivalry between two powerhouses of the league.
Deja Vue for the Hawks
For the second week running, Rowville has blown a five-goal lead at three-quarter time. The Hawks had a 33-point lead at the last break with Wynd who returned to the side, kicking five goals and having a big impact.
Everything fell apart in the final term however with Balwyn piling on seven majors including Jordan Lisle’s match-winner from a ruck contest deep inside the Tigers forward fifty, 28 minutes into the last quarter. Charlie Haley put on a show with four goals while ex-AFL player Josh Walker kicked four himself, taking his season tally to ten.
Without Bowen Smith, injured from the Tigers Good Friday clash, Shaun Cross and Alexander Urban stepped up for Balwyn, combining for 72 disposals and 17 clearances.
As for the Hawks, they’ll be scratching their heads with the way they’ve run out the last two weeks. In their two fourth quarters this season, Rowville has given up 15 goals while only scoring one themselves. In their other six goals, they’ve only given up a total of 10.
Last year, the fourth quarter was arguably their strongest quarter, running out games well with their speed. At best, they’re a serious contender for the flag so there’s an added level of intrigue on next week’s match against Park Orchards as both clubs search for their first win of the season.
Tipping nightmare in Division Three
Would be very surprised if anyone tipped four from four in this week’s Division Three games.
One of the big winners of the round was Whitehorse, twelve-point winners against Coldstream. It’s a massive turnaround from last week’s big loss at home to Fairpark. Andrew Haining’s first win as Whitehorse Coach made even more impressive considering how hard Coldstream have been to beat at home, having won 13 of their last 15 home games. The win couldn’t have come at a better time considering they take on both Ferntree Gully and Donvale in the upcoming fortnight.
Those two sides went head-to-head as well on Saturday with Ferntree Gully proving they’re the real deal, defeating last year’s Grand Finalists by 19 points. Kieran Gray kicked four majors in the win while experienced heads McComb and Kennedy led the way.
Warrandyte remains winless after falling four points short against Silvan on their home deck. They trailed throughout the afternoon and despite a four-goal to-one last quarter, the Bloods couldn’t break through for their first win of the year. There’s no question that this is still a very talented side that can make a deep run come finals time, but they need to get moving quickly now.
We saw first-hand what happened to Ferntree Gully last year, losing their opening seven rounds of the year, with four of those matches lost by six points or less. Despite their form in the second half of the 2022 season, they were too far behind to make the finals. Warrandyte will be aware of that and will look at next week’s clash against Oakleigh District as a crucial one for their season.
As for Silvan, it’s one of the club’s most impressive wins in recent times. Warrandyte’s key targets Ryan Phillips and Quinn Clark were held to just one goal combined while Matthew Low finished with another four to take his tally to ten.
They’ve come up a division, having not matched up against most of these sides and to start 2-1 while knocking off last year’s Preliminary Finalists at Warrandyte, Trent Martin and his boys should be very happy with their opening three weeks.
Meanwhile, Fairpark pinched a win under lights on Saturday evening by six points with Doulgeris kicking the match winner late in the last quarter. Oakleigh District fans will be disappointed they didn’t capitalise when they should have in the opening half, have an extra seven scoring shots. Their fixture doesn’t get any easier, taking on both Warrandyte and Ferntree Gully in the next two weeks.
The evenness of the division is great for the competition and there are set to be at least a couple of more surprises in the following couple of weeks.
