AROUND THE GROUNDS
TOP COLTS GO AT IT
THE GDFL executive was disappointed in February to learn the Heathcote and District Football League would not be bringing down an under-19 interleague side to take on the Raiders. With this in mind, the board collaborated with AFL Barwon to move the under-19 division 2 Werribee v Inverleigh clash to North Geelong this weekend as a curtainraiser to the senior interleague instead. The Centurions, who played off against Geelong Amateur in the 2016 Division 2 Colts grand final, held off Anglesea on the weekend, while the Hawks won last year’s Division 4 Colts premiership over Corio. Thumbs up also go to Inverleigh’s Dalton Grundell, who will have a busy day as junior co-coach before he then represents the GDFL in the main the game.
GIANT STEPS BUT ...
GEELONG West let this one slip. The Giants looked every chance to put an end to its drought over Bell Post Hill on Saturday with a nine-point lead at the final break. The Panthers had won 26 of their past 28 games over their suburban rival — the other two games were draws. The continued red-hot form of Tom McKay, accountability of Adam Leamer and prowess of Blake Dye enabled the Giants another late lead. But this time Beau McNamara and Jack Yates kicked the sealers for the Panthers. “The Werribee loss will hurt us more,” Giants captain Scott Jervies said. “Bell Post Hill is the benchmark, so we should take some confidence that our best footy matches it with the best sides — we just have to be more consistent for longer going forward.”
IS WILL THE BEST AT HIS CRAFT?
A POSITIVE of Bell Post Hill’s thrilling win was the 250th game of small defender Will Urquhart, with club legends gathered to salute the veteran after the game. Long-time teammate Shane Lymer, who has played in all five of Urquhart’s premiership sides, was full of praise before the match. “It’s hard to think of an AFL equivalent for Will because there aren’t many small lockdown defenders in the big league,” Lymer said. “We think he’s the best small defender in the GDFL but that’s if you ask us at Bell Post Hill. We’ll admit that he’s not a Michael Best (Inverleigh) in terms of his ball use, but he will stop a B.J. Harding, Brent Jacques or even a Rusty (Ryan Garrard).” Last year, Urquhart was named in the GDFL team of the year alongside Panther defenders Lymer, Cam Addie and Tim Barton. “If you ask any of the league’s small forwards, I’m sure they’ll tell you they have nightmares about playing on him,” Lymer said.
GDFL INJURIES MOUNT
LAST year Bannockburn’s Kieran Fulton proved to be one of the GDFL’s heroes in the Raiders’ four-point interleague win at Wedderburn. The 22-year-old has been ruled out of this week’s campaign and joins stars Nathan Mayes, Blake Hutchinson (Inverleigh), Nick Costello (Bell Post Hill) and Beau Runnalls (North Geelong) on the sidelines.