By Marcus Uhe
Brad Scalzo, Tom Miller, Kurt Mutimer.
Big sized players, big game players.
From low external expectations to begin the season, Pakenham has established an identity as a resilient, hard-working bunch of plucky youngsters unafraid of challengers thrown at them.
But identities don’t get much more formidable than premiership stars, a tight group who have faced many a battle together over the years in the black and white jumper.
A stoppage at halfback early in a stagnant third quarter saw Lachlan Benson combine with Miller to put Tom Toner in space, who verbally demanded a lead from Will Howe and put the Sherrin in his outstretched hands.
While only a fleeting moment in the contest, you could see the chemistry flowing from within the home side that you simply can’t include on a team sheet.
Despite being pushed for large periods by Pakenham at home on Saturday, the class, experience and cohesion from Narre Warren allowed them to turn their best footy on when it was required in the 65-point win, 15.18 108 to 6.7 43.
Whether the beginning of Wimbledon on Monday played into their thinking is a mystery, but both sides engaged in a game of tennis early in the match.
Narre Warren would win a clearance and put the ball deep into their forward line, before Pakenham’s backs would rally and repel the footy from defensive 50.
Their reward? A quick breather and the chance to settle their feet, before gearing up for another foray.
Without full back Jackson Berry, the Pakenham defensive group were overwhelmed at times by the weight of numbers coming into its territory.
The Magpies had two goals and led 15-0 before Pakenham even went inside 50 for the first time in the seventh minute.
Before long the reigning premiers had five on the board, as Howe joined the party with two of his own.
The disparity in skill level and execution between two sides was vast, and poor accuracy in front of goal saved the visitors from a first-quarter mauling.
As the first term came to a conclusion, the emergence of sunlight brought with it some attacking flair from the visitors.
The influence of Jake Barclay grew, and his willingness to take an inside option to find Matt Vaiano in the middle resulted in a shot on goal for Jake Thompson to put them on the board late in the quarter, finishing the term 29 points down.
The aggressive ball use late in the quarter seemed to spark some dare, and flowed into the second term with some ballsy switches.
Where Narre Warren wanted to play almost exclusively on the scoreboard side of the ground, Pakenham was prepared to chop up the facilities side where the conditions were sodden.
Barclay and Vaiano would combine again for Pakenham’s second, but this time the roles were reversed, as the bullocking forward found his captain in a nest of Magpies at centre-half-forward.
But for all the success they were having, Narre Warren was able to answer with brute strength and numbers when it mattered.
The experience and wisdom of Scalzo and Mutimer in particular in the middle was evident around stoppages, combining with ease against an inferior midfield group.
When Pakenham was forced to kick long to a contest, it was often to an outnumber, configured through constant communication from Trent Papworth, Joel Zietsman and co behind the ball.
Pakenham had definitely weathered the early storm, and adjustments at the first break were having an influence as it held Narre Warren to just a single goal in the second term to keep the contest alive.
Critically, an incidental blow to the head in the dying stages of the quarter saw Barclay come from the field in what would be his last effort for the contest, not returning in the second half.
The halftime break allowed for a reset of both teams and the conditions, but the first few minutes with the ball trapped in the waterlogged pocket instantly transformed the footy into a cake of soap.
Locking the ball in its half of the ground for the early stages of the quarter did not translate to scoreboard ascendancy, however, as Pakenham could only manage one behind.
At the other end, Narre Warren’s first forward foray was clinical, finishing with Howe kicking his third, and soon enough the margin grew to 50 points midway through the third term, thanks to another off the boot of Mutimer.
Now with a reputation to defend as a second-half, come-from-behind team, Pakenham’s persistence was facing its hardest challenge to date.
They responded with the next three goals, lifting their output around the contest despite the absence of its inspirational captain and chaining with handballs thought the middle of the ground.
Thompson added a second, Tyrell Bignoux nailed Narre Warren ruck Benson with a brilliant tackle deep in the pocket and slotted the resulting kick, before Thompson kicked his third to return the contest to a five-goal margin.
Kicking consecutive goals for the first time in the contest meant Pakenham entered the final quarter with wind in its sails, and on the back of three come-from-behind wins, there was anticipation at the prospect of whether they could do the unthinkable once again.
But darkness descended over Kalora Park as Narre Warren flicked a switch.
Three goals in the opening 10 minutes to the Magpies quickly put the game beyond reach for Pakenham, under immense pressure from a side with a better understanding of how to win than most.
Much like in the opening stages of the game, the Magpies locked the ball in the front half through forcing turnovers and allowed Howe and Jessie Davies to go to work.
Both kicked two in the final term as the margin grew, punctuated with a spectacular torpedo after the final siren from Miller in a near-identical location to Dan Houston’s later on Saturday night for Port Adelaide, the cherry on top of a 108-43 cake.
In his typical post-game address on the field, Narre Warren coach Shane Dwyer spoke about the lessons to come from the afternoon’s display.
“We were really happy with the first quarter but we felt we took our foot off and relaxed, or went away from what we were doing well,” Dwyer reflected post-game.
“We played really well in the last quarter, so I said to them, ‘do you understand that we pick up on the negatives because we want to get better, as opposed to patting them on the back for everything they’re doing well?’.
“So it was more to say, the second and third quarter, we didn’t think we were up to scratch and we didn’t use the ball well, so that’s what it was about.”
The premiership coach felt his side’s skill level dropped in the middle quarters of the game, but was pleased with the ability to right the ship.
Relying on that as a method for success, however, is not a strategy he wants the defending premiers to adopt.
“You don’t want to get to the stage where you can just say, ‘flick the switch’, because you can’t always do it,” he said.
“We’ve got Wandin out here next week, and if we’re in the same predicament and the game is close, you can’t just say ‘alright, flick the switch,’ because it won’t happen.
“You’ve got to run with momentum and do the right things for longer.“
With Wandin’s narrow loss to Mt Evelyn, the Magpies claim top spot on a slim percentage gap over the Bulldogs, both tied on 36 points.
It adds another layer of excitement to next week’s blockbuster back at Kalora Park.
“They’re a good side and it will be a good challenge, it’s probably the challenge that you want to have,” Dwyer said.
“Their midfield and our midfield are pretty good, and their forward line and our forward line are good.
“We’ll see how they go.”
Despite not getting the result, Pakenham won’t lose any respect from its league counterparts, now able to boast that they have kept the reigning premiers to two of its four lowest scores in the campaign to date.
Leaders in James Harrison and Jordan Stewart continue to set an excellent example, as do fellow senior players Jaiden Camenzuli and Vaiano.
