Seddon stars in convincing win
Hawks may have solved premiership puzzle
RIVAL clubs need only look at Inverleigh’s strong win over Thomson to know just how dominant Simon Seddon can be.
In fact, he could prove to be the missing piece of Inverleigh’s premiership puzzle.
The Hawks head into the interleague break on top of the ladder after disposing of another top-three contender by 45 points in wet conditions.
After a tight first quarter, returning co-captain Ryan Garrard opened the floodgates.
He kicked the first of the Hawks’ five unanswered second-quarter goals, as Inverleigh kept Thomson goalless for 45 minutes.
Dalton Grundell and Casey Meehan also did plenty of damage throughout the day, while Toby Manganelli was particularly busy and ruckman James Huybens a strong presence.
But these efforts were all overshadowed by the workrate of first-year Hawk Seddon, who recorded a staggering 46 disposals (38 kicks), just one week after booting six goals against East Geelong.
“He (Seddon) was impressive at Hampden League level and kicked those 10 goals in that QAFL grand final, so his past history doesn’t lie,” Inverleigh coach Mark McDowell said.
Seddon was initially positioned loose down back before rotating in the midfield where he finished with 14 and 15 disposals in the second and third terms respectively.
“He’s (Seddon) got a good spring, he’s a really good mark and a beautiful kick; today he was just sensational and throughout the day he just ticked all the boxes,” McDowell said.
The Hawks have an easy run after the interleague bye before it heats up with matches against fellow contenders Winchelsea (Round 10), Bannockburn (Round 11) and Werribee (Round 13).
“We’re confident that we’re going to learn from that costly 12-minute patch against Bell Post Hill from a few weeks ago,” McDowell said.
“That day our boys did a really good job to get back into the game, they had their opportunities to win the game in the last five minutes so it was a great effort to get back.”