By Marcus Uhe
An extra layer of defensive fortitude has helped Narre Warren to a pair of excellent performances in its opening two rounds of Outer East Football Netball.
The Magpies spoiled Emerald’s premiership party on Saturday after the Bombers unfurled their 2023 Division One premiership flag, holding the home side goalless in the second in a resolute display, finishing 16.15 111 to 3.7 25 winners at Chandler Reserve.
Narre Warren kicked five goals from 11 shots in the opening term and could have led by more, having entered the contest with a pointed focus to own the early stages, before tightening the screws in the second half to extinguish the threat of a Bombers’ comeback, with the final 10 goals of the match.
Across the first two weeks of the season, three of their eight quarters have ended without the opposition scoring a goal, delighting Steven Kidd in his first year in charge.
“I thought our pressure was fantastic all day,” Kidd said.
“We’re trying to slow teams down a little bit more than we did last year, and that comes down to the forwards working hard to push up the ground, man the mark and make the ground a bit smaller.
“The back six down there were excellent on the weekend, most of it comes down to those guys down there.”
Will Howe’s second bag of six goals makes it 12 for the season, with Jesse Davies, Peter Gentile and Daniel Toner each kicking two goals in a spread of eight goal kickers.
Corey Bader and Mitchell Tonna continue to excel, with Kidd highlighting the added responsibility on their shoulders as contributing to their surge.
“Corey Bader played his best game for a while in the midfield,” he said.
“I think losing Tom Miller, he saw a bit of an opportunity come up.
“I’ve been really pleased with how he’s been and he’s put a bit more focus on his defensive side, which has been pleasing as well.
“It’s the little things that Mitch (Tonna) does that are so pleasing.
“It’s the one percent’s I guess and his determination to see the team hold its position in the pecking order, he’s so determined to make that happen.”
For the Bombers, it’s consecutive weeks in which they have been swamped with scoreboard pressure early and failed to recover.
It was 0-32 after one quarter against Olinda Ferny Creek and this week carried parallels as they failed to match the intensity early.
A contest against the Magpies was always going to be a tough challenge for the Bombers, experiencing a difficult initiation to the Outer East’s top level.
Noah Van Haren kicked two, with Ewan Wadsworth, Josh Rich and Matt Edwards among their top performers.
Gembrook Cockatoo is counting the cost of poor kicking for goal, having dropped a winnable contest against Olinda Ferny Creek at home.
The third quarter was where the trouble set in, where the Brookers kicked 1.9 and conceded six goals in a 22-point swing in the visitors’ favour.
A five-point lead became a 17-point deficit, with Olinda Ferny Creek winning 11.12 78 to 7.18 60.
Officer, meanwhile, broke the shackles of Mt Evelyn to record an impressive 13-point win to kick start its season and return to Premier Division.
Trailing by five points at half time, the Kangaroos kicked six goals in the third quarter to enter the final period with a 22-point advantage.
The Rovers outscored their visiting opponents in the final quarter but not by enough to overturn the deficit as Daniel Charles’ side tasted victory for the first time in 2024.
Teenager Riley Wierzbicki kicked four goals for Officer as the side’s leading goal kicker as Lachie Ward, Antonio Quach and Jake Gains all impressed.
Through two weeks Officer has shown that they will be competitive in Premier Division and far from the pushover it was back in 2022 during a tumultuous season, shaping up nicely for a head-to-head with old rival Pakenham on Saturday.
Woori Yallock, meanwhile, trailed at every break but kicked six goals to one in the final quarter to overrun Upwey Tecoma at home, 16.15 111 to 14.7 91.
The hosts kicked the final six goals of the afternoon after the visitors opened the scoring in the last quarter for a 15-point advantage.
Joshua Neal and Taylor Gibson look set to form a dangerous combination up forward for Woori Yallock, with 18 goals between them already in 2024.
Neal kicked five and Gibson four in round two, after Gibson’s haul of eight the week prior.
