DYLAN: Hi boys, I have been given the reins this week, my LTS hosting debut, so we’ll kick things off with our best action from the weekend. This isn’t a win; it’s a passage of play, a goal, mark or something miscellaneous so we’ll start with the big boss Dave.
DAVE: Alright, my best action this week is Jai Neal, who’s a young bloke from Berwick. He’s a key forward, kicked five sausage rolls on the weekend against Noble Park. The kid’s got some real natural talent. There was a passage of play where the ball dribbled out to the forward 50, he gathered it one handed 45 metres out and then swivelled on one foot; kicked a right foot snap all the way through for a goal. You boys are probably too young to remember Darren Jarman, who destroyed St Kilda in the last quarter of the 1997 grand final, but it reminded me of that.
DYLAN: Thanks for reminding me of Jarman too; as if I haven’t seen the vision enough Dave. (Group laughs).
DAVE: Oh I forgot you were a Saints fan until halfway through and then realised what I’d done, sorry mate.
DYLAN: Justin what do you have for us this week?
JUSTIN: Sorry boys but I think my best action is going to be tough to beat this season.
DYLAN: Season?
JUSTIN: Yep, in the fourth quarter it was a tight game between Emerald and Gembrook. Michael Firrito sent his big body, strong-marking key back Ben Schultze down forward late in the quarter when Aiden Gajanovic, key forward for Emerald took him on. He was caught holding the ball and Schultze went back to kick a beautiful snag. Then, in the dying moments of the game, a high free kick was paid to guess who, Aiden Gajanovic, who made up for his early mistake and absolutely drilled it home from 40 metres to win the game after the siren for Emerald…it was unbelievable.
DAVE: So he’s recovered from a previous mistake to become the hero?
JUSTIN: When I was talking to David Johnson yesterday, he said Gajanovic came up to him in the rooms and thought he lost us the game, he was distraught and he ended up winning the Anzac Medal for his bravery. You could hear a pin drop has he was about to kick it and then pure elation around the ground.
DYLAN: The bar has been set; Blair what have you got?
BLAIR: I won’t rival that but mine was between Narre Warren and Port Melbourne. Jake Richardson, a big target up forward who hasn’t quite performed throughout the first couple of games, he kicked six in the win and was hugely important. In the first quarter, the best action comes from there. Peter Gentile gets a free kick in the middle for a push in the back, he kicks it long targeting Richo and he dropped a chest mark…he didn’t think it was coming over the pack. Then he recovered with a clean gather, running towards the left side of the boundary and check-sided a goal running away from the big sticks. That made it three in the quarter so he was seeing it pretty well.
DYLAN: My best bit of action comes from Trafalgar who were down by 40 points in the last quarter. Cooper Minichiello, who was last year notoriously known for having the worst haircut in the league, has taken himself seriously this season. He’s a good defender, he’s a strong mark; an entry came inside 50 where he climbed on the shoulders to take a massive hanger. We were up and about in the commentary box and it’s definitely one of the best marks I’ve seen in person.
JUSTIN: What was his haircut? I need to know.
DYLAN: It was a mullet with a bald head.
JUSTIN: A skullet!
DYLAN: Yes, and I think it was out of his own volition too from memory.
BLAIR: And he didn’t even lose a bet, wow (laughs follow).
BEST VICTORY OF THE WEEK
DYLAN: Alright boys, best win of the weekend, we’ll start with Blair.
BLAIR: Narre Warren bounced back to beat Port Melbourne by 29 points in a game where the Colts had all the play in the first half. It was high scoring in the wet conditions but Narre needed to bounce back after last week’s tough loss to East Brighton and they did that. They were outplayed in the first half around the clearance but to their credit, in the second half they got on top, especially missing a couple of regular guys in the midfield rotation. I think that’s a really important win as they move towards the reigning premiers Cheltenham this week.
DYLAN: Dave?
DAVE: Mine’s got to be Tooradin-Dalmore this week; they took down Warragul Industrials on Anzac Day. The Dusties have been the story of the year so far, but I loved Tooradin’s composure when the game was on the line in the third quarter. They’ve got three former AFL players playing for them in Shane Savage, Matt Buntine and Adam Oxley. All three of them are really important and come finals time, all of their experience is going to be massive for Tooradin. They also have a bloke named Piva Wright, he’s a massive strong unit, he played for Richmond’s VFL team.
DYLAN: Adam Treloar’s brother in law I believe.
DAVE: Piva is only my height, probably 6’1 or 6’2 but built like a brick shithouse and he’s a really important player so I was really impressed with Tooradin stopping Warragul’s momentum. A shout out to Noble Park as well.
DYLAN: Justin?
JUSTIN: My biggest win was obviously Emerald, it was a goal-for-goal game. I couldn’t believe how close it was, especially getting a big win over your bitter rivals that way. I think the largest margin at a quarter break was Emerald by 14 points at quarter time. From there on, it was back and forth, neither side could land the knockout punch.
DYLAN: Neerim South v Trafalgar, it was a top of the table clash and Neerim South was too strong. After conceding the first two goals, they went on to kick eight in a row and never looked back. They got out to a 45-point lead and then a couple of late goals reduced it to 32 points. They’re sitting at 3-0 and are going to be hard to beat this season.
UNDERRATED TALENT LOCALLY
DYLAN: Alright, underrated stars. Who hasn’t been given the appreciation they should because there’s a few in front of them; Justin we’ll start with you.
JUSTIN: Funny story here, I was sitting right at the pocket for the Emerald v Gembrook game and the Gembrook water-boy, who is an older bloke said “My boy Konner Alcott has been sensational this game” and I replied “Yeah, yeah, I have him in my notes,” so I’m not sure if it was his father but Konner Alcott was amazing. He was the one-percenter King, he had five smothers and at least three tackles awarded for holding the ball. Every team could definitely use someone like him. He also had 19 disposals and stood up for Gembrook to nearly get them over the line.
DYLAN: Dave?
DAVE: My under the radar player is Nar Nar Goon’s (who are full of stars) pair of brothers who were both injured last year and play in the backline, Jake and Sam Blackwood. Jake’s a key defender and his brother Sam’s a real creative player, brings others into the game with his handball and has the ability to evade others. These two blokes are definitely flying under the radar…they’re like two new recruits.
DYLAN: Blair?
BLAIR: Narre Warren’s ruckman Hayden Dwyer has been very impressive over the first couple of weeks but especially over the weekend. He had 13 disposals, five tackles and as a big man he works really hard along the ground. He had six tackles the week before against East Brighton but he dominated with hitouts, he was huge in the second half with 56 hitouts and a soccer goal which you don’t see too often from the big man. He’s not that old but he’s been really contributing to the success of Narre and I’ve been impressed with his work rate around the ground.
DAVE: Last week, you had a stat about a bloke with 91 hitouts. That got me thinking, that’s a lot of stoppages.
BLAIR: Yeah, if you look at the bloke you’ll have to think a bit more because he is a massive man. I went to watch the game on the weekend, the stats haven’t come out but he had 60 hitouts the second week and 77 the week after.
DYLAN: An underrated star for me this week is going to be Ayden Ramm, who has been one of their best on in two of the three season matches to date. He’s a versatile wing but he’s put on some muscle in the off season but he can run for days. He’s accurate by foot and good by hand so Ayden Ramm for me from the Neerim South Cats.
DAVE: Well done mate, that’s a good topic, I like giving the guys outside the spotlight some credit.
DUAL SPORTS SPECIALISTS
DYLAN: And the final topic, I’ve gone a bit exotic here because I was at the Anzac Day game between Collingwood and Essendon on Friday and Scott Pendlebury was in front of me at one point. We know he’s famously “memeified” for having a basketball background, so I thought what talent do we know that can play multiple sports and is adept in various categories, Blair?
BLAIR: Yep, Monique Conti for mine. She’s an absolute star, 24 years old, a premiership player in 2018, five consecutive best and fairest for Richmond is incredible. A league best and fairest winner, five time all-Australian and so far 73 games at her age. When her career’s done she’ll be a star but it’s also her basketball talent in the WNBL where she’s handy. She played 63 career games, won a championship with the Southside Flyers. She’s been at Geelong the last couple seasons but she’s a star across both sports.
JUSTIN: As a big Tiger fan I actually wrote Monique Conti too. Alex Carey’s one Dylan showed me who was a footy player for GWS. I also have a current draft prospect, Willem Duursma, he is a gun basketball player, I know he’s projected to be a top pick in this year’s AFL draft but a couple of years ago in the Victorian Championship League he was a top scorer in the league for Gippsland Basketball. I think he had a 50-point game in there as well but he’s an absolute gun basketball player.
DYLAN: Dave, what about you?
DAVE: Locally, Brad Butler from Tooradin. He opens the bowling, quickest in the competition for bowling but also a star half forward for Tooradin so he’s who I initially thought of. A couple down your neck of the woods too Dylan, Samuel Batson (Coach of Buln Buln) is a good footballer and cricketer. Going to a national level, I think the two who stand out straight away are Ellyse Perry, 18 games for the Matildas in Soccer and now she’s played 243 games for Australia in the cricket as well. And women’s footy has only exploded in the last 10 years and I think the best player in those 10 years has been Erin Phillips. She won a silver medal at the Olympics for the Aussies in basketball and now she’s a star footballer so they’re the two I thought of.
DYLAN: I’ve gone a little bit away from the usual but Ash Barty is probably one of the more famous names. Harry Perryman from Collingwood is apparently quite the fisherman from what I’ve heard on the grapevine in the last couple of weeks, but the name I’ve slipped in is Zak Evans. He hasn’t played a game for the Gold Coast Suns yet but he was playing for the Melbourne Renegades in the last big bash season as a fast bowler. If he gets a game he’ll be one of very few to straddle between the big bash and AFL.
DAVE: Mate, if Zak Evans walked in here now I wouldn’t know who he is, would you boys?
JUSTIN: Nope.
BLAIR: Nope.
DAVE: That’s very obscure.
DYLAN: It’s left of field.
JUSTIN: I like the fishing one.
DYLAN: Thank you for another week of Let’s Talk Sport boys. We’ll hand it back over to Dave next week and I have a very strong feeling we’ll be talking about ruckman.
DAVE: Well done Dylan.
