By Marcus Uhe
Thirty seconds of frustration from Noble Park fullback Ryan Morrison may play a costly role in his side’s quest to defend its 2022 premiership after proving critical in Saturday’s 11-point loss to Rowville.
The two sides played another epic in what is fast becoming one of the must-watch contests in Melbourne’s grassroots football scene, as the Hawks overcame a valiant Bulls fightback at the beginning of the final quarter to secure a vital four points and remain in the top two for another week.
With five minutes remaining and the Bulls holding a one-point lead, Liam Scott turned the ball over at half back to Mitchell Sruk, who found Lachlan Wynd on the lead and nailed the set shot to put his side back in front by five points.
As the ball was returned to the field of play, Morrison made high contact with Hawks captain Anthony Brolic, resulting in a free-kick, 20 metres from goal, directly in front, where the incident took place.
The umpire showed Morrison a yellow card for the incident, and the champion defender retreated to the bench to the adulation of a raucous Rowville home crowd.
Hawks defender Kyle Stainthorpe then ran over to Morrison to clap him off the field, and Morrison retaliated by appearing to strike Stainthorpe in the stomach with an open hand.
The two field umpires convened and decided to show Morrison a second yellow card, resulting in a red card, ruling him ineligible to return for the remainder of the game.
The Stainthorpe incident gave Brolic a 25-metre penalty, meaning his set shot came from the goal-line.
He kicked truly to extend the lead to 11 points, a lead the Bulls were unable to reel-in, leaving them vulnerable to falling out of the top six in the final two weeks, now tied with Blackburn on 36 premiership points.
Those two goals to the Hawks, the only two they kicked for the final quarter, proved enough to stop the charging Bulls, prevailing 12.7 79 to 10.8 68 and extended the current winning streak to five matches.
Kurtis Flakemore and Maverick Taylor kicked the first two goals of the afternoon in a tense opening quarter while the Bulls were held goalless.
Morrison and Riet Pal were standing tall for the visitors amidst a flood of forward 50 entries for the Hawks.
Bulls captain Jackson Sketcher, who played one of the games of his career last time the two sides met in round one, received heavy attention from the Hawks midfielders around stoppages, as he and Jackson Casey were kept quiet in the opening term.
The quarter-time break allowed the Bulls to reset and their dynamic duo in the midfield made an instant impact coming out of the huddle, combining with Nathan Noblett off half-back to provide Scott with his first goal of the afternoon.
Three minutes into the quarter, the scores were tied, thanks to Sebastian Quirk’s clever snap close to goal.
Tensions were beginning to rise to the surface and the Bulls looked far more engaged than they did earlier in the afternoon.
Luke Bull was having an influence behind the ball, and a stunning run-down tackle from Pal on Taylor closing in on goal provided further inspiration.
Casey and Sketcher were now having an influence at the contest as Noble Park made it four goals in a row, with Tom Bower and Liam Nelson joining in the action with excellent finishes.
Joshua Clarke stemmed the flow with a textbook roving goal for Rowville, but the Bulls press allowed Joshua Stern to find space out the back from a forced turnover in the forward half, Lachlan McDonnell showing his composure with ball in hand.
The Bulls looked likely to take a 12-point buffer into the long break, but a costly turnover from Hudson Thomas deep in defence allowed Matthew Martini to convert a set shot from a tight angle on the half time siren, resulting in a lead of just six.
Stern kicked a second for the visitors to open the second half before the Hawks kicked into gear, nailing the next six.
Lachlan Stapleton and Jake Arundell each kicked two, Arundell’s second coming directly from a kick out where the ball did not touch the ground as the Hawks flew from end-to-end.
Speed on the ball was critical as the Hawks looked to wheel and go as often as they could.
Taylor then kicked two in three minutes to capitalise on the weight of numbers inside forward 50 for the Hawks, his second in time-on bringing the house down as the margin reached 21 points.
But few know better than Rowville what Noble Park can produce when its back is against the wall; in round one, the Hawks led by 31 points before the Bulls kicked the final eight goals of the game to storm home by 25.
When Noble Park took the lead after 16 minutes, flashbacks of that disastrous day back in April would have been coming thick and fast for Ben Wise and his coaching staff.
Thomas had been thrown forward and put his side ahead, after the Bulls moved the ball at lightning speed following a Wynd miss on goal.
Noble Park’s strength at forcing forward half turnovers and stoppages was coming to the fore, particularly through the presence of Chris Horton-Milne, involved in three of his side’s four final quarter majors.
But as they have grown accustomed to doing in recent weeks, the Hawks would not be denied, and found the extra gear when needed.
The manic forward press saw Scott commit the critical error at halfback, before the Morrison madness resulted in Brolic’s captain’s goal, ultimately the sealer in a tense and turbulent game of football.
Taine Barlow was a standout for the Hawks in his first senior game for the club in 2023, as was Pierce Roseby in only his third.
Horton-Milne was exceptional for the Bulls, playing as big a role in the comeback as any.
