The Mallee Football League enjoyed inflated crowd numbers for round 6 due to most other leagues involved in interleague duties.

The Southern Mallee Giants hosted the Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers in their first game at Beulah for the year. They were hoping to make use of the home ground advantage to register their second win for the season, however the Tigers had a different plan.

It was a similar result to round one, where again, the Tigers' power forwards did much of the damage. Even without Simon Weekley their depth can easily cover any unavailability. Brad Collins stepped up to fill the centre half forward role to finish with 3 goals. In a best on ground performance Cliff Ryan was damaging up forward kicking long-range goals, as he and Jordan Doering kicked 11 of their 19 goals.

Across the rest of the ground the Tigers had players to rotate through all positions. Tom Summerhayes, John Foskett and Scott Weekley enjoyed getting space from their opponents. It was not rare to see some of these players go from the midfield to the backline and also rest up forward. This flexibility gives them many options and made it hard for the Giants to match up.

The Tigers didn't have it all their own way. After a half-time rev up the Giants came out with a point to prove. Their accountability across the ground improved and this yielded results with a 6 goal to 2 third quarter. Liam Price was able to sneak forward from his wing to kick 2 goals, Luke Mahony in his first game for the club also chipped in. Mahony was a strength in clearances, and the times they were able to get the ball forward quickly and cleanly, gave Kain Robins better opportunities to get a jump on his opponent. Robins continued with his consistent form and provided a great target across half forward.

While the Giants were still in the game early into the last quarter, it seemed they had spent their petrol tickets in the third. The Tigers steadied and kicked clear to win comfortably by 39 points.

It was a similar result in the other game with Walpeup giving themselves a chance up until the last quarter.

Ouyen United began the game playing attacking football using their pace charging forward. Laurence Angwin was the main United target and with Brad Vallance moving well it looked to be a tough afternoon for the Roo backs. WU fought back late in the term to stop the succession of Ouyen goals as the game found another gear. Both sides were attacking the ball ferociously and some tough clashes resulted.

Shane Birss continued to find plenty of possessions leading from the front as the Roos clawed their way back into the contest. An open forward line suited the Roos and they were able to convert their chances as the scoreboard tightened. United answered moving the ball freely out wide as they went into half time with a small lead. They continued with that momentum with the first two goals in the second half as United threatened to run away with the game.

Walpeup Underbool battled to prevent a blowout and although in the end it was a 50 point margin, the gap between these sides did not seem that great.
This was a hard fought contest with United too strong in the end. In a sour end to the game Brad Vallance was carried off after a heavy collision resulting in a face injury in the last term.

By Dale Shannon