By DAVID NAGEL
WHAT else do you do when you’re a sports journalist and have a couple of spare hours up your sleeve?
You watch footy, that’s what!
This week we take a close look at the player statistics of Narre Warren during its 16.18(114) to 4.6(30) victory over Officer at Starling Road on Saturday.
Magpies’ coach Heath Black reacted savagely to his side’s Round 15 loss to Doveton, making seven changes at the selection table.
In came Mitch Dempster, Jarrod Dalton, Cory Machaya, Jack Wheeler and Nathan Foote, while Tim Mashado and Troy Mengler came in for their first taste of the big time.
The seven omissions were all dropped to the twos, with Chris Collins, Andrew Hunter, Grant Lofthouse, Tait Sabec, Nathan Reid, Hayden Stagg and Chris Johnson all paying the price for the previous week’s performance.
The Magpies’ pressure gradually wore the Kangaroos down on the weekend, having 139 possessions in the first half and a whopping 210 after half-time.
The third quarter was dominated by Trent Cody and Cory Machaya, who had nine touches each for the term, while the two Jacks, Soroczynski and Wheeler, racked up 11 each in the last quarter.
Soroczynski was his side’s leading possession winner with 26 for the afternoon. The Magpies take on Cranbourne in a top-three battle at Kalora Park on Saturday.
