GDFL’s power train

GEELONG & District interleague coaches Reece Holwell and Mark McDowell hailed their midfield group after securing a nine-point win over Heathcote & District at Keith Barclay Oval.

Inverleigh power forward Jak Kennedy-Hunt kicked five goals, making the most of the supply from the Raiders’ onballers, but caused concern when he hobbled off in the third term with a thigh injury.

“I believe the win comes down to our tackle count, we had 10 to five in the first term and 15 to 10 in the second, so we almost doubled them in the first half,” Holwell said.

McDowell added: “Our centre clearance count was dominant as well, which enabled us to put their defenders under the pump early in the game.”

The workrate of midfielders Matt Tyquin, Dalton Grundell and Dylan Witney early allowed Kennedy-Hunt to have four goals to his name by the closing stages of the second term.

But the Raiders still could not put their opponents away, with missed opportunities from Corio coach Andy Challis and Geelong West star Brayden Mitchell leaving the door ajar at half-time with a 10-point lead.

“At half-time we highlighted our wasted kicking toward the scoring end and we recognised that we didn’t lock it on the scoreboard but we still had the ball,” Holwell said.

McDowell added: “You’d rather be inefficient with the ball than not having the ball at all, but that was a big one.”

Anakie ruckman Luke Wilson won the WorkSafe Medal, judged by the GDFL coaching panel for his efforts negating Heathcote’s rotating talls for a majority of the game.

“It was probably a spot that we were a bit worried about and we knew that he (Wilson) would be doing 90 per cent of the ruck,” Holwell said.

“It was only in his last two games that he brought himself into form.

“We heard that he recaptured his best footy in the last few weeks, so this medal is for his turnaround.

“His tap work was also superb, giving our midfielders first use, which was massive.”

Kennedy-Hunt finished with the Daryl Jones Medal as the best GDFL player judged by GDFL commentators Jason Doherty, Dale Smythe, Grubby Cations and Alex Tigani.

“If you take him (KennedyHunt) out today, then where else are you going to find a forward that brings you five goals and helps set up another two or three?” Holwell said.

McDowell added: “Samuel Jacka (Thomson) took seven intercept marks in the backline and there were a couple of times as well where he just ended the contests with some killer spoils.

“Those sorts of stats and efforts were really powerful in the game.”

Post-match, seven Bell Post Hill players proudly posed with the WorkSafe community championship trophy, before passing it on to the seven Inverleigh representatives on the day.

This was the last opportunity for the premiership contenders to share a laugh before the premiership race livens up.

“We gave Adrian Fantella a bit of a role early on (Heathcote star) Ryan Semmel and he was happy to play that role and then late in the game he started getting his hands on the footy as well,” Holwell said.

“It’s an even spread. We didn’t have a guy stand out with 30 disposals and we explained after the game that it was pretty hard to pick a medal winner because they all had great moments.

“Even Jackson Smith (Werribee) is young, but he had a five-minute period where he stood up and he looked like a 200-game veteran, so we’re just so pleased how everyone played their role.”