Ruthless Tigers march to top spot
Torquay belts rival flag hope
A STAGGERING 14 goalkickers showcased Torquay’s ominous firepower as the Tigers dispatched topthree aspirant Ocean Grove by 129 points.
The Tigers extended their lead at every break and have dethroned Barwon Heads as ladder leader.
Having smashed premiership contenders Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove by more than 200 points combined in the past three weeks, the Tigers are now the side everyone is looking out for.
“I suppose it comes with the territory. If you’re top of the ladder you have to be up there with the favourites (for the premiership this season),” coach Dom Gleeson said.
“It’s the tall poppy syndrome. Everyone wants to knock you down.
“As long as you do it with being humble and (going about it) the right way, like I think Barwon Heads has been doing it, it sits with us pretty well. It’s a really even competition, you’ve got to be on your A-game no matter what.
“If you can put a side away early, that’s when you can play with your own side.
We don’t go into too many games lightly. “Overall, it’s one of those things where we certainly train hard as a group, but there has got to be a certain element of fun.”
Prominent scorer Billy Henderson booted six majors for the day, further enhancing his status as one of the pickups of the season after crossing from GFL contender Bell Park. Fellow recruit Josh Hovey again proved his worth as a dominant big man.
The forward line functioned well, as Scott Hughes, James Darke, Paul McMahon and Tyler Lovell all kicked multiple goals.
“We focused on certain things during the week and goal kicking was one of those on Thursday night,” Gleeson said. “Sometimes when you practise a lot, often you go the other way. It came off today and we still kicked 17 behinds mind you, but we kicked 27 goals.”
Given the respect for Ocean Grove, Gleeson said it was important his side did not lower its standards during the game, even as the margin blew out.
“What we thought was (that) we should really stick to (the game plan) in the first half of the third quarter, because knowing (Grubbers coach) Paul Lynch and what he stands for, they come and play, and they certainly did, but we held,” Gleeson said.
“I think it’s pretty hard for an opposition to come down in an away game and play well when being down by so much.
“I’ve been on those certain losses before. It’s hard to stop momentum and we certainly had that momentum today.”