Not often you see footballers applying sunscreen in the middle of winter.
Finals weather came early in Round 15 of the Gippsland League.
Perfect conditions and dry decks made for free-flowing football, as the five victorious teams all scored around the 100-mark.
There is still no separating the top-three sides, as Leongatha, Wonthaggi and Moe all carry win-loss records of 13-2.
Wonthaggi should take top spot this week by simple virtue of the fact they are the only top-three team playing, due to a split round, and have an assignment against second-last placed Warragul.
While that match doesn’t evoke much excitement, the other game to be played in the first week of the split round certainly does: Morwell versus Sale – fifth versus sixth.
There is just one spot left in the final five, so whoever wins that game will just about be assured of a finals berth.
THINGS just work out perfectly sometimes.
Maffra gave club legend Winston Gieschen a moment to savour, ensuring he celebrated his record-breaking day with a win.
Gieschen, playing senior game number 250, walked off his home ground after the Eagles won 15.14 (104) to 7.4 (46) against Warragul.
To top it all off, the milestone man kicked three goals.
When it’s your day …
Gieschen broke the senior games record for Maffra, surpassing the mark set by Brendon Donahoe, which had stood since 2003.
The four-time premiership winning Eagles saw his side start with a flurry of goals at the weekend, kicking 5.8 (38) to just one behind.
There was no way Maffra was going to let up from there, and the Eagles continued on their merry way for the best part of three quarters.
With Dr Sam Davidson running riot up forward, and Maffra’s defence keeping the Guls to just two goals up until three quarter time, the Eagles were afforded the luxury of playing the last quarter in total contentment they had the game won.
Warragul saved faced with five goals, but Maffra went past the ton with four of their own.
Dr Davidson kicked half-a-dozen, and was ably assisted by Brayden Monk, Noah Christy, Alex Carr, Kade Renooy and James Read.
Those checking results in the lower grade may have noticed an interesting name in the Eagles’ reserves – Gary Jones.
Jones made a cameo appearance for Maffra, the day afyter being inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame, in what his first game in the red and black since 2015. Jones showed he hasn’t lost it, and duly kicked seven goals.
Better players for Warragul in the seniors were Sean Masterson, Bayley Paul, Tom Hobbs, Will Cole, Brad Hefford and Sam Fennell.
The ninth-placed Gulls have already turned their attention to next season, with Masterson and young gun Tom Stern signing on.
While the result of this game will do little in the grand scheme of the ladder, from the Eagles perspective, it means they will no longer be any chance of finishing last.
Following a few hefty defeats in recent weeks, there was an honest possibility Maffra could have met this fate.
For a club that has won nine premierships since the turn of the century, one could only imagine how big a shock to the system that would have been.
FOR a team that’s coming last, the Drouin senior team of season 2023 is still pretty good.
The Hawks put up a good fight against Sale, but went down in a competitive match 13.9 (87) to 9.9 (63).
Sale received an almighty scare at home, and were on level-pegging with Drouin when the halftime siren sounded.
The Magpies rectified the situation in the third term, adding three goals while keeping the Hawks to just one behind.
The game opened up in the last, as nine goals were kicked. Sale managed five, and Drouin closed strongly with four.
Sale however was able to take the four points, and a vital four points at that, to see themselves a game clear inside the top five.
Thank God the Magpies have Shannen Lange.
The star midfielder kicked five goals, and was Sale’s only multiple goal-scorer.
Lange collected best afield honours, followed by Jack McLaren, Will Leslie, Pat Tainsh, Jordan Dessent and Jarrod Freeman.
Drouin has a good one in Hugo Birks.
As well as having the best name in the competition, he is also a dangerous forward. Birks kicked four goals at the weekend, and now has 33 goals in just 11 games this season.
Tim Hancock played well for the Hawks, as did Jordan Kingi, Xavier Kinder, Kye Quirk, Ryan Taylor and Tom Evans.
Despite languishing in last position on the ladder, the Hawks continue to win praise from league pundits for their attacking style of play.
A percentage of nearly 70 means Drouin has hardly been a walkover this season, and given the fact the Hawks lost their first three games by single-figure margins, there could be plenty of upside for Drouin next season.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, they are probably going to claim the wooden spoon, but could well go down as the best team to finish last in Gippsland League history.
Drouin has just one winnable game left, against Maffra, before finishing with top-three sides Leongatha and Moe.
Meanwhile, Sale will now count down the days until its date with destiny.
The Magpies must beat Morwell on the road this weekend to all but lock in a finals berth.
As has been the story all season, Sale was again beset by chopping-and-changing its senior line-up at the weekend – the Magpies making four changes for the Drouin game.
Those sitting around the selection table at Sale Oval will have fingers and toes crossed for strong availability this weekend, as their season is on the line.
There will be a touch of irony about the situation, as it was Morwell who defeated Sale in the last round last season to secure their own spot in the finals.
The Magpies loss prevented Maffra from making finals. This time, Sale has to win to prevent Morwell possibly taking their own spot.
HAVE a guess who the Moe player that kicked six goals against Traralgon was.
No, it wasn’t Billy Gowers.
It wasn’t Harry Pepper either.
And Kristian Jaksch has been injured all year.
Nick Prowse emerged as something of an unlikely goal-kicking machine for the Lions at the weekend.
We say unlikely because he doesn’t usually get as much attention operating alongside Gowers and Pepper.
Like Roughead playing in the same team as Franklin and Rioli however, Prowse proved more than adequate foil, and ended the day with a bag of six goals.
His efforts helped Moe fight back from an early deficit to overrun the Maroons 15.8 (98) to 10.13 (73).
Honours were shared in the first term, before Traralgon skipped out to a 20-point lead in the second at Terry Hunter Oval.
The Maroons added four goals in a hurry to start the second, but Moe was equal to the task, adding just as many themselves to take a slender lead and some momentum into the main break.
As the sun continued to beat down, things heated up in more ways than one during the third.
Moe’s ill-discipline, which had already gifted Traralgon a goal in the first half, threatened to boil over in the second, as a couple of spot fires broke out.
Once the Lions calmed down, they were able to get some good looks inside 50.
The visitor’s were efficient moving forward, adding 3.1 (19) for the quarter, in stark contrast to Trarlagon, who butchered 1.6 (12).
Some nice running goals to Riley Baldi and Harri Sim provided highlights for the Lions, as they got out to a handy 13-point lead at three quarter time.
Traralgon key defender Dan McKenna came off in the third after being winded, giving the coaching staff another problem to deal with.
Moe started the last quarter in the best possible way, with an opportunistic goal from Gowers in the first 30 seconds.
Traralgon full forward Brett Eddy responded a minute later, cutting the margin back to two goals.
Prowse found himself in the thick of the action, snapping the ball through after Gowers had shrugged off a few opponents, before adding another one to his tally.
The Maroons threw caution to the wind, and kept trying to put speed on the ball and get it into Eddy’s hands.
His third goal came at the 14-minute mark, which left the equation at 18 points.
With plenty of time left, Moe needed a goal to settle things down.
Fittingly, it was milestone man Jacob Wood in his 200th senior game, who pounced on a loose ball and snapped through the sealer as the clock ticked into red time.
LEONGATHA was too strong for Morwell, taking the points in a one-sided affair 13.14 (92) to 7.2 (44).
The Parrots burst out of the blocks at home, putting up 6.4 (40) to no score in the opening term.
The Parrots took a 44-point lead into the sheds, and maintained the margin for another 30 minutes.
A disappointed Tiger outfit was made to rue their poor start, which gave Leongatha the opportunity to virtually play the game out from there with little danger of being overran.
Aaron Heppell was best for the winners, followed by the Benjamin Button of Gippsland football, Cade Maskell.
Others to play well were Kim Drew, Tallin Brill, and backline defender Sean Westaway.
The Parrots still have Josh Hopkins to potentially come back into the seniors.
Hopkins, who had been overseas for a few weeks, played in the reserves at the weekend, and was second-best on, kicking four goals.
WONTHAGGI belted Bairnsdale.
The Redlegs were left resembling a prominent AFL player turned boxer in a recent bout, after going down 16.21 (117) to 0.8 (8).
Making what is believed to be the longest road trip in country Victoria, the Power started slowly, before flicking the switch and inducing maximum pain on their opponents.
Wonthaggi scored just one goal in the opening term, but then went on to score six, five and four – while their opponents did not even make the goal umpire signal with two fingers.
The Power kept Bairnsdale to the second-lowest Round 15 score in league history.
