Saints’ victory a sign of good faith
TWO weeks after a disappointing loss to St Joseph’s, two impressive wins have restored the faith for St Mary’s.
The young squad was understandably shaky after being beaten by 56 points by Joeys, but two wins, over Grovedale and Leopold, has shown that areas being worked on are going in the right direction.
The Saints took care of the Lions by 24 points, thanks largely to a seven-goal masterclass from Sam Dobson.
The win was the second already this year for St Mary’s over the side it lost to in last year’s grand final, and head coach Troy Mitchell said it was important positive reinforcement for his side.
“They’ve still got a premiership, which would be a hell of a lot nicer, but honestly it puts us in a good position on the ladder,” Mitchell said.
“We’ve got a hell of a lot of respect for Leopold and the coaching staff and how they go about it, so it’s always a good measure to know where we’re at.
“That’s probably more important, to see where we are at and today gave us a nice indication of that.
“We saw against Joeys that we needed to change some things and we have been able to change them so it’s nice to see it’s working.”
Behind the stunning form of Dobson, skipper Jacob Welsh played his best game of the season.
Stars Zak Sherman and Jarryd Garner were also excellent for the winners, while youngster Paddy Dowling’s class and composure with the ball impressed, but one blockbuster match-up stood out.
Welsh went head to head with Jai Thompson in an entertaining battle, including one crunching tackle each on the other.
Mitchell said his captain stepped up the challenge of facing off against one of the premier midfielders in the GFL and took the chance to learn from a natural leader.
“Jai is a great footballer, he gets Leopold going and he was their captain last year and took them to a premiership, which is a fantastic effort,” Mitchell said.
“I think there is a lot of mutual respect there and I think (Welsh) looks at someone like that and says, ‘Hey that’s what I want to do’.
“Thompson is a really good leader and someone you should look at local level and someone you should aspire to play like and play at that kind of level.”