Lions take confidence from win; Roosters make bold move

IT MIGHT not have been pretty to watch, but Redan coach Gary Learmonth is hoping his side’s win over Lake Wendouree on Saturday will give the Lions some impetus for an improved second half of the season.

The Lions won for only the second time this season, taking their time to shrug off a spirited Lakers for a 28-point win.

While their record reads 2-7, the Lions can count themselves a bit unlucky to not be closer to the top six, having been in front in the final quarter of matches against Bacchus Marsh and Ballarat earlier in the season.

“I guess we were relieved more than anything that we were able to get the win,” Learmonth said.

“The guys have been pretty good all year without getting much reward, so it was nice to finally get a win.

“(Given the respective ninth and 10th ladder positions) they would have set themselves for this one.

“It wasn’t like any of our other games this year – it was a very different game.

“Looking at the stats, both sides didn’t have a lot of the ball; there were a lot of repeated stoppages. They had a lot of numbers around the footy.

“We only had four handball receives, which is well down on what we’ve had so far in other games.

“It is what it is. The numbers behind the ball made it a bit hard, but I thought we started reasonably well into the breeze, but probably left a few goals out there.”

The Lions were superbly led all day – but particularly late in the game – by Brody Pope, while the returning Harry Lawson was a thorn in the side of the Lakers defence with four goals.

Nicholas Barker excelled in defence, while Zac Mortlock, Khy Jess and Taj and Lachlan Bond all featured prominently.

Learmonth is hoping the win can ignite his young side’s season.

“We have Bacchus Marsh this week. They are a game ahead of us, but we were up against them in the final quarter in round one, so hopefully that gets us some confidence,” he said.

“It was good to have Harry Lawson back for his first game in a while. Him kicking four (goals) makes a big difference.

“He had only played one game for the year before Saturday, so he is someone we have really missed.

“We should get a few other blokes back over the next month, which will make a difference for us.”

Cole Hutchinson became the Lions’ latest first senior gamer, joining fellow 17-and-under Jake Connolly and under-18 Hamish McNamara in the line-up.

 

The development of their younger brigade has been a continuing source of pride for the Lions this season.

Meanwhile, North Ballarat has moved into the top six for the first time since the end of round one thanks to a 34-point win over Sebastopol.

After a tight first quarter, the Roosters took control of the contest with a four-goal to one second term to notch up a 22-point half-time lead.

They were able to restrict the Burra to just four goals for the match on their way to a crucial win.

In comparison, Jamie Quick kicked four of his own in a lively performance up forward for North Ballarat.

Combined with Bacchus Marsh’s 39-point loss to Sunbury, it was enough to lift the Roosters into sixth spot.

Coach Clint Proctor hailed his side’s appetite for the contest and pressure around the ball.

“I think we had about 73 tackles and we were really keen in the contest as well. That was really evident to me,” he said.

“We brought a lot of pressure and Sebas struggled to deal with it a bit.

“We were able to get turnovers in some good areas of the ground to score off them. I think it was seven goals we kicked from turnovers, which is a good effort.”

Dominic Penny won plaudits for a solid game on Sebastopol playing coach Tony Lockyer, while Isaac Carey across half back and midfielders Riley Polkinghorne, Elliott Lamb and Brock Leonard were strong around the contest.

With three wins from their last four games, the signs are there that the Roosters are gaining traction.

Encouragingly, there is also a bit more upside.

“We have still got a lot of injuries at the moment, so we are still a while away from our best,” Proctor said.

“But on Saturday there were some great signs from a lot of our younger kids.

 

“We had a first gamer (Jackson McInerney), a couple of second gamers and a third gamer, and along with that we have a group of kids that are only around 21 years of age and have played about 30-40 games.

“This exposure to senior footy for them is really strong.

“I looked at the list of outs – and they were sitting on the bench with me – and we had Simon McCartin, Cam McCallum, our ruckman, Tom Bromley-Lynch, Harry and Fletcher Loader and Jarrod Curran. That’s a lot of experience to have sitting down.

“Getting the growth into the younger boys, who are in the middle part of the group, is really valuable.

“When we get the others back, we will be a chance to compete with most teams.”

While the top four sides in the competition – Darley, Melton, Sunbury and East Point – look to have separated themselves from the pack, Proctor said the Roosters had not given up on claiming a top four scalp.

“We think we are capable of talking one of them down,” he said.

“We’ve set our sights on one.

“We obviously have to keep our consistency up with our performances, but we want to get a scalp before the end of the year.”

Their first chance to do that will be tomorrow (Saturday, June 21) against a rebounding East Point, coming off a loss to top side Darley.

The Roosters, however, will need to contend with a growing injury list, having ended the clash against the Burra without any fit players on the bench.

The worst of the injuries were a knee to Noah Cockerell, which will sideline the defender indefinitely, and Nathan Jolly (shoulder).

Round 9 recap:

Ballarat 5.11 (41) lost to Melton 9.6 (60); Lake Wendouree 7.5 (47) lost to Redan 11.9 (75); Sebastopol 4.6 (30) lost to North Ballarat 10.4 (64); Sunbury 15.8 (98) defeated Bacchus Marsh 9.5 (59); Darley 20.7 (127) defeated East Point 10.13 (73).

Round 10:

Bacchus Marsh v Redan; Sunbury v Darley; Melton v Lake Wendouree; Ballarat v Sebastopol; East Point v North Ballarat.