SYDNEY 13.7 (85)
NORTHERN BULLANTS 15.14 (104)
NORTHERN Bullants handed their supporters an amazing Easter gift when they landed the best victory of their standalone rebirth with a 19-point boilover against Sydney at Blacktown International Sports Park on Sunday.
The Bullants showed their intent early, kicking five goals to two in the first quarter as the Swans struggled without the tall timber that won them the game against Port Melbourne last week, with Logan McDonald (AFL), Callum Sinclair (managed) and Lachlan McAndrew (hamstring) out and Joel Amartey (concussion) ruled out early and seventh-gamer Liam Podhajski (16 disposals, 21 hitouts, five clearances) and debutant Andrew Courtney (18 hitouts) took full advantage.
Sydney came to life out of the first break, banging on five goals in eight minutes to take a 14-point lead, but Tim Jones stemmed the flow from a 50m penalty and the visitors steadied to get back within a point at the main change, taking momentum into the sheds as the Swans licked their wounds with Matt Roberts also ruled out of the game with concussion.
Despite missing a host of key players of their own in Liam Mackie (suspension), Danny Hughes (personal), Will Mitchell (wrist), Doug Lawrence (hip) and Ben Silvagni (elbow), the Bullants came out inspired in the third quarter and only kept the Swans alive by kicking 4.8 to 0.1.
Jack Boyd’s third major early in the last did finally seal the deal and despite Sydney kicking three of the last four goals the Bullants came up with a famous victory, built on the back of none other than inspirational captain Tom Wilson (35 disposals, nine marks, six clearances, five rebounds), while Jones (27, eight clearances, five inside-50s, one goal), Swans Academy graduate Jackson Barling (20, 10 clearances, 10 tackles, one goal), Nathan Honey (20, two goals), Kyle Dunkley (19, 10 clearances, five inside-50s) and Jean-Luc Velissaris (16, three goals) were also wonderful.
Ryan Clarke was everywhere again for Sydney to rack up another 37 disposals, 10 marks and seven tackles, Lewis Taylor had 26, seven marks, five clearances and nine inside-50s and Will Gould stepped up his outstanding start to the year with 25 possessions, six marks and nine rebounds while also spending time as an undersized ruckman, with Nick Shipley (21, seven marks, one goals), Dylan Stephens (21, five inside-50s, five tackles, one goal) and 194cm ninth-gamer Harry Maguire (15, nine marks, 13 hitouts, one goal) also able to hold their heads high.
PORT MELBOURNE 21.10 (136)
ESSENDON 17.9 (111)
IT WAS also a big Easter Sunday at ETU Stadium as Port Melbourne rattled home from 28 points down just before half-time to beat Essendon by 25 and break a 358-day drought.
The Borough looked certain to see their wait to sing the song stretch between a full year when the Bombers jumped the blocks to lead 27-0 after just 16 minutes, but they managed to stop the margin getting beyond five goals before Jackson Weideman goalled at the death to give them some momentum.
Port then broke the shackles, kicking seven goals to three in the third term to take the lead by the final break before charging home with another eight goals to four to kickstart their season as the Bombers shipped an opposition’s highest VFA/VFL score against them for the second straight week, becoming the first team since Geelong in Rounds 6-7 of 2013 to lose twice in a row despite scoring more than 100 points.
The Borough won the match at the coalface, winning clearances 51-32 despite losing hitouts 54-29, mainly through Essendon’s Nick Bryan (44 hitouts, four marks, five inside-50s), with Paul Hunter proving much more dangerous around the ground in winning 20 disposals, six marks, 10 clearances, six inside-50s and two goals).
Eli Templeton (32 disposals, five marks, 11 clearances, two goals), Marcus Lentini (23, eight clearances, eight inside-50s, six tackles), Harvey Hooper (19, seven clearances, seven inside-50s, one goal) and Corey Wagner (22, four clearances) were all important in that win, while Archi Manton (five marks, four goals), Cody Szust (five marks, three goals) and Anthony Anastasio (three goals) were vital up forward and Jesse Cucinotta (five marks, five rebounds) and debutant Lachie Modica (six rebounds) were solid in defence.
Captain Joe Atley was important after missing last week with 19 touches, eight clearances, nine tackles and a goal, Brayden Ham (20, five marks, six tackles), Dylan Landt (17, six marks, eight inside-50s, one goal), Joel Fitzgerald (19, five rebounds) and Will Golds (17, six rebounds) performed well and Kaine Baldwin stepped up in the last quarter after a quiet outing, kicking three of his five goals, but 12 individual goalkickers weren’t enough for Essendon.
CARLTON 11.6 (72)
RICHMOND 15.7 (97)
THE remarkable day of achievements continued as Richmond ended Carlton’s undefeated start to the season by 25 points at Ikon Park, with both the game’s milestone men in imperious form.
Celebrating Jake Aarts’ 100th VFL match, the Tigers defeated Carlton at Ikon Park for the first time in VFA/VFL history and knocked the Blues over for the first time anywhere in nearly 125 years – September 19, 1896, at Richmond City Reserve to be exact.
And they did the damage early, kicking five goals to two in the first quarter and seven to four in the second to lead by 40 at the main break as Aarts himself carved up the Blues with 32 disposals, seven clearances, 10 tackles and a goal in a best-on-ground performance as the Tigers recorded their 100th VFA/VFL away victory in their 150th match of the VFL era.
While Richmond kicked just one behind in the third quarter, Carlton (2.5) missed the chance to get back into the game as Sydney Stack found his dynamic best with 23 disposals, six marks and three goals, while captain Lachlan Street (27 touches, 10 marks, eight rebounds), Will Martyn (24, eight marks, six rebounds, and Sam Banks (22, nine marks, six rebounds) starred in defence, Kane Lambert (25, six marks, two goals), Rhyan Mansell (25, 11 marks), Riley Collier-Dawkins (25) and Maurice Rioli (21, seven tackles) and Ivan Soldo (41 hitouts, five clearances, two goals) all dominated.
Carlton’s own 100th gamer Will Hayes was unstoppable for his team after missing last week with gastro, racking up another 37 disposals, six marks, 10 clearances and a goal in a near one-man show, while Jack Carroll (23, seven clearances), Lachie Plowman (21, eight marks), Tom Williamson (23) and Zavier Maher (20) were also solid.
CASEY DEMONS 13.12 (90)
COBURG 8.7 (55)
EASTER Sunday’s third milestone man was quiet but finished the game happy as Casey Demons reclaimed top spot on the Smithy’s VFL ladder with their ninth consecutive win over Coburg, this time by 35 points Coburg at Casey Fields.
Mitch Brown brought up his century of games with three marks and two goals, but the Demons were relatively untroubled, putting 4.6 on the board before the Lions scored in the seventh minute of the second term and getting out by as much as 48 points in the third quarter.
Former captain Mitch White was outstanding for the Demons with 27 disposals, eight marks, five clearances, five inside-50s and a goal, youngster Roan Steele impressed with six marks and three goals, Adam Tomlinson responded to his AFL omission with 24 touches, six marks and seven rebounds and Taj Woewodin (24, five marks, five tackles), Luke Dunstan (23, one goal), Bailey Laurie (22, six marks) and Jake Melksham (21, five marks, six clearances) continued to give Melbourne selectors a welcome headache and Jack Bell had 28 hitouts opposed to Adam Swierzbiolek (23).
Mitch Podhajski was terrific for Coburg in picking up 20 disposals, grabbing 10 marks and kicking two goals, with support coming from Luke Bunker (25, six clearances), Charlie Thompson (25), Braedyn Gillard (22, six clearances) and first-year player Flynn Gentile (21, five clearances).
BYES: Box Hill Hawks, Brisbane Lions, Frankston
Twitter: @BRhodesVFL
SMITHY’S VFL LADDER, ROUND 4 – click here
THIS WEEK
ROUND 5: Saturday, April 23: GWS v Sandringham (Blacktown, 1.35pm); Werribee v Carlton (Avalon, 2.05pm); Footscray v Southport (Whitten, 3.05pm). Sunday, April 24: Brisbane Lions v Port Melbourne (Moreton Bay, 11.05am); Coburg v Box Hill Hawks (Coburg, 1.05pm); Richmond v Casey Demons (Swinburne, 2.10pm); Frankston v North Melbourne (Skybus, 7.05pm). Monday, April 25: Essendon v Collingwood (Windy Hill, 1.05pm). Bye: Geelong, Gold Coast, Northern Bullants, Sydney, Williamstown.
NEXT WEEK: ROUND 6: Saturday, April 30: Coburg v Collingwood (Piranha, 1.05pm); Carlton v North Melbourne (Ikon, 2.05pm). Sunday, May 1: Gold Coast v Werribee (Metricon TO, 11.05am); Western Bulldogs v Essendon (Whitten, 11.35am); Geelong v Williamstown (GMHBA, 12pm); Sydney v Brisbane Lions (SCG, 1.05pm); Northern Bullants v GWS (Preston, 1.35pm); Box Hill Hawks v Casey Demons (Box Hill, 2.05pm); Sandringham v Frankston (Barker, 2.05pm). Bye: Port Melbourne, Richmond, Southport.
THEN: ROUND 7: Saturday, May 7: Brisbane Lions v Coburg (Moreton Bay, 12.35pm); Port Melbourne v Richmond (ETU, 12.35pm); Werribee v Sydney (Avalon, 1.05pm); Sandringham v Northern Bullants (Barker, 2.05pm); Williamstown v Gold Coast (Williamstown, 2.05pm); North Melbourne v Geelong (3.05pm, Aegis); Frankston v Carlton (Skybus, 7.05pm). Sunday, May 8: Casey Demons v Southport (Casey, 12.35pm); Essendon v Box Hill Hawks (Windy Hill, 2.10pm). Bye: Collingwood, Footscray, GWS.
All VFL matches in 2022 will be live-streamed free. The match of the round can be viewed on Channel 7, while all remaining games will be streamed live and available on demand via the AFL Live and VFL apps. Radio 3WBC is also again broadcasting Box Hill Hawks matches.
To access live scores, results, ladder, stats and to link to live streams/replays, download the VFL/W Official App from the Apple or Google Play stores.
