Serong named All-Australian
Warragul junior footballer Caleb Serong has been chosen in the All-Australian Under 16s schoolboys’ side.
There was plenty of excitement in the Warragul social rooms on Saturday night when the news filtered through.
Earlier in the day Serong had been part of the Victorian side that defeated South Australia to take out the national title in Queensland.
Serong, still eligible for Warragul’s Under 16 side, has been “blooded” at senior level with the Gulls in several games this season and has more than held his own.
In recent weeks he has missed turning out with Warragul while training and playing with the State team.
The pressure the Gulls applied for the best part of three quarters will worry sides less accomplished than Leongatha and there is the talent to win games.
On Saturday young captain Chris Carey was excellent in the ruck and around the ground, Fowler was involved across four quarters and did some outstanding things, Mulqueen was a plus on his return, Paredes and Scalzo mightn’t have been as dominant as in some other games but were still good contributors, and Jake Hughes and Tom Axford stuck well to difficult tasks in defence.
A big difference between the two sides was Leongatha’s three-pronged forward weapon - Dunne, Hillberg and Cade Maskell who is playing a much more mobile role this year.
It is not an easy task keep one, let alone two or the three, under control.
On Saturday Dunne and Hillberg each kicked six goals and Maskell shone in the second half with three.
A loss to Leongatha is by no means an end of Warragul’s finals hopes.
It did cause them to slip from 4th to 5th after dropping five percentage points.
But the Gulls’ chances of making the “final five” will be determined by the games ahead, starting with the trip to Sale on Saturday week.