MORNINGSIDE v. WILSTON GRANGE
Morningside 4.2, 10.3, 14.6, 15.8 (98)
Wilston Grange 0.2, 2.5, 5.9, 10.11 (71)
FULL RECAP: https://aflq.com.au/live-145pm-morningside-vs-wilston-grange/
This was as convincing of a 27-point you will see this year.
To put it bluntly, Morningside dominated this from go to wo
From the opening bounce they dictated the tempo of the game by controlling the stoppages, choking the Gorillas in their forward 50, and then spreading on transition.
It wasn’t like Grange weren’t getting their hands on the ball around the ground, it was just that the Panthers were forcing them into errors, and kicking along the boundary.
Besides the last 15-minutes of the game when the sting was out, the Panthers form suggested the should have won by about 10 goals.
Kinch was hitting targets off a step, Abey was working his rear end off up and down the ground, and Logan was the strong body they wish they had in September last year.
Wilston Grange will take a lot from the pressure that was applied to them. When they adjust to it, they will look a lot stronger.
Oh, and I’m sure Matt Walder is pretty pleased to get one over his old club.
5-0. Not bad for the Panthers.
Coaches thoughts
Matt Walder – Morningside
“Before half time we had a good lead and set the game up, but we are disappointed we got outscored in the second half, the last quarter especially.
“That was the disappointing aspect, we should have put a stamp on all four quarters.
“We will take the win though, we won at the critical times, but we still have to round our performances right out.”
Matt Trewhella – Wilston Grange
“Our turnovers were poor. We played with our hands too much. The frustrating bit was we trained to play one way and didn’t.
“With an young and inexperienced side, that happens under that kind of pressure. We had our fair share of ball, but their run and carry killed us in the end.
“It’s deflating.”
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND v. SURFERS PARADISE
Surfers Paradise 6.4, 13.8, 16.10, 19.12 (126)
University of Queensland 5.4, 9.6, 11.11, 17.14 (116)
It was a old fashioned shoot out at Field 9 yesterday, and the Demons walked away with everything in one piece.
22 goals were kicked in the opening half alone, which says it all about the way these teams were moving the footy.
Noa Corbett must have slammed down a couple of red bulls before the game, because he played an absolute blinder.
He snagged seven sausage rolls in the first half alone. Seven!
The only difference in the first half was a 10-minute period where UQ fell away, and Surfers stepped up.
It gave them a four-goal lead at the long break, which was cozy but not safe.
UQ took the game on a lot more in the second half, but just couldn’t kick the consecutive goals they needed to.
George Hannaford had another blinder, backing up his selection in the Queensland State Team.
Surfers’ leaders stood up when it counted. Cass Haberfield, Macnash, Tooma, they all won the footy when they needed it.
They way they closed out the game is a really strong sign. It shows the improvement and maturity in the group. This time last year they were on the other side of these tight ones.
UQ will feel like they let a chance slip yesterday, but the signs are good, a win is just around the corner.
Coaches thoughts:
John Tootell – UQ
“It was a pretty free flowing game, but they seemed to score a lot more easier than we did throughout the game.
“We lapsed again in that second quarter, and then they kept that lead for the rest of the day.
“We rolled our sleeves up late and had a crack, but it’s another one we think got away from us.
“Sometimes we don’t always have the faith to keep running and keep backing ourselves, but we are working on that.”
Peter Young – Surfers Paradise
“We came away with four points so we are happy with that.
“Our forward line worked really well. Noa was winning a heap of it so we left him one out early.
“We made some skill errors with our run from behind which we were disappointed with, but they had a real crack, and it’s nice to win those close ones.”
LABRADOR v. MT GRAVATT
Labrador 4.2, 4.4, 10.7, 14.7 (91)
Mt Gravatt 3.2, 6.8, 6.12, 8.15 (63)
After a turbulent couple of weeks, Labrador is back on the winners list, and they did it by knocking off one of the inform teams.
It was always going to be a good standard of footy when these two ran out. When they are on, the skills are up and the ball pings around.
It was Mt Gravatt who came out of the blocks the better.
They put their skates on and went to work. Joe Murphy was sublime in the middle, and Hubert was showing he has lost nothing after a couple of years away for the game.
Mt Gravatt went into the sheds 16-points up, which was when the Labrador rejig came.
They hemmed the Vultures in, limited their run, and pulled the trigger when they pathway opened up.
Jayden Young led the Tigers’ back six superbly. That group was probably the difference in the game.
Hicks and the Clarke brothers provided the spark they needed in the middle, and Baxter finished off the good work.
The Tigers are back in town, and the Vultures were left with a few what ifs.
Two good teams, one good game of footy.
Coaches thoughts:
Perry Meka – Labrador
“It’s good to get a win. They are a very good running side, so we had to stop that.
“We made some changes at half time, to slow them down a bit, and this time they paid off.
“It was nice to a few runners back in our side, that was what we have been missing these last few games.”
Brad Pollock – Mt Gravatt
“We were disappointed, but Labrador played pretty well.
“There are definitely a couple of lessons for us to take. We sometimes forgot about the style of play we needed to, to win at times.
“We didn’t convert as well as we would like to either. We had a lot of forward entries, plenty of opportunity, but their backline was outstanding.”
WESTERN MAGPIES v. PALM BEACH CURRUMBIN
Palm Beach Currumbin 5.4, 10.7, 17.13, 19.15 (129)
Western Magpies 4.1, 7.4, 12.4, 14.7 (91)
Palm Beach are becoming very good at running away from teams late in the game.
There’s two ways of looking at that though. Are they not playing their best footy until late? Or are they just one of the fittest teams in the comp?
For me, it’s a little bit of both.
For the good part of three quarters this was pretty much goal for goal. Palm Beach was peppering, but the Magpies were like a runny nose down in the Melbourne during winter, just wouldn’t go away.
The Lions controlled the stoppages for the majority of the game, but it was when the opened it up in the last quarter they skipped away.
The Magpies weren’t bad, they didn’t play poorly, and there was a lot to take from the game, but they were just beaten by a better team on the day… pretty simple.
For the Lions, Woolley and Robertson played some seriously good football. You couldn’t ask for any more out of those two.
Goodall and Allen stood up in the heat of battle for the Magpies, they just couldn’t drag their team over the line.
Crawford was also huge for them; he will win a lot of the footy in and under this season.
Palm Beach is priming themself beautifully for an attack late in the year. Looming large to earn a double chance already.
Coaches thoughts:
Glenn Humphrey – Western Magpies
“We were just outplayed. They were very good around the stoppages, well organised, and simply outplayed us on the day.
“I think our defensive work was very good at times, as was our offence when we got out the other side of the ground, but they had more use of the football.”
Chad Owens – Palm Beach Currumbin.
“We had 34 scoring shots so I think we controlled the game in terms off ball use but just didn’t capitalise early.
“We just tried to run and take the game on because if we tried to stay with them in the middle, we were playing into their hands.
“Once we took it on, we started to get the rewards.”
BROADBEACH v. SANDGATE
Broadbeach 3.0, 8.1, 13.4, 17.5 (107)
Sandgate 2.2, 3.5, 8.8, 12.8 (80)
The score line suggests it was a relatively straight forward win for the Cats, but sometimes the score line lies.
These two teams went hammer and tongs at each other for four quarters yesterday, and there was only one real difference.
The Cats took their opportunities in front of goal and going inside 50, Sandgate didn’t.
When the Cats were on, the ball movement was slick, but they were a little patchy.
When they let their guard down, the Hawks, and the likes of Beaven and Fabian, pounced.
It was a game that will would have tested out the ice supplies at Broady, because there were some battered bodies after it.
Harrison Kerr stole the show up forward, bagging seven for the afternoon. I think he has found a home there now.
While not happy with the performance, the Cats walk away with another four-points. That’s all you can hope for at this stage of the year.
Coaches thoughts:
Brett Andrews – Broadbeach
“They are a good side. We probably took the foot off the gas at one stage and let them back in though.
“We looked good when we were good, but we didn’t set the world on fire.
“We haven’t put a full game together yet, but it is only early, and we still won, so that’s a positive.”
Graham Adams – Sandgate
“They definitely took their opportunities better than we did.
“There wasn’t a lot in the game, I was pretty happy with us across the board, but we just didn’t capatitise forward of the centre.
“We missed targets and didn’t kick it to the advantage of our forwards.”
By Andrew Wiles
Follow @andrewjwiles
