Omnia   

benflGRANT Weeks needed eight majors in the Round 12 match at Castlemaine seven seasons ago to reach the magic 100-goal milestone.

To report he just squeaked over the line with six full rounds to go would be to sell Weeka very short indeed.
The gun full-forward nailed his eighth six-pointer – and his 100th for the 2010 season – midway through the third quarter.
He was mobbed by teammates, and the obligatory scramble-over-the-fence supporters, after landing a 40m set shot from the railway flank, scoreboard end.
There was 12:30 on the clock in the third quarter with more than half the term still to be played.
He finished on 14 majors for the match and a 2010 season tally of 106.
I was the match reporter for the Bendigo Advertiser at the Camp Reserve and not surprisingly the wrap-up of the game featured on the back page of the Monday Addy.
I don’t recall being so diligent but I must have marked down the manner in which each goal was kicked plus elapsed time on the clock: thanks to long-serving Square timekeeper and fellow footy broadcaster Mike Lowther.
The breakdown of each of the Square star’s 14 majors was published in a special stand-alone story on an inside page.
Weeks finished the day on a massive 14.7, including two posters.

SO LET’S run through Weeka’s quarter-by-quarter tallies.
First term, three goals: at the scoreboard end got his second courtesy of a 50m penalty and the third following a downfield free.
Second quarter, three goals: the third was the pick of the bunch. Marked a long ball right on the edge of the 50m arc and drilled goal no. 98 for the 2010 season.
That was only seven minutes in so went for most of the second stanza without adding to his tally.
Third, quarter, and a very productive five majors: just two-and-a-half minutes in slotted goal no. 99 following an off-the-ball incident.
Then at the 12:30 minute mark speared home his 100th. Weeks marked a long ball from Shaun Young and from 40 metres out on the railway flank, scoreboard end, drove home his 100th for the season.
Mobbed by teammates and spectators from over the fence.
Halfway through the second stanza marked a Chris Malone kick into the forward line and sent a booming shot straight through the big sticks.
Fourth term, three goals: played second fiddle to current Storm co-coach Bryce Curnow early on as Curnow nailed three majors.
Finally at the 19:20 minute mark Weeka marked on the half-forward flank, pressbox side, and landed his 12th for the afternoon and 104th goal for 2010.
His 14th major for the day came following a mark in the final 25 seconds. Weeks hammered home the shot after the final siren. It took his 2010 tally to 106.

THE LONG-kicking spearhead praised his teammates after the huge victory which bolstered Square’s percentage and handed them a 38% gap over second-placed South.
Both clubs were on 11 wins, 1 loss for the season.
Weeks’ 14 goals also gave him a big break of 36 over second-placed Harry Maddern (KF) and third-placed Matt Gretgrix (Eh).
As noted Weeks had nailed 106 goals, Maddern 70 and Gretgrix 59 after 12 rounds. Kyneton’s Jimmy Condos was fourth on 57.
“Without players such as Luke Hammond, Shaun Young, Nathan Bell and Mark Lloyd I wouldn’t be getting too much of the ball,” Weeks said after the Castlemaine game.
“It’s more to do with the team and not just me.
“And if oppositions decide to double team me then there’s Matt O’Toole and other players who can pop up.
“I’m not too fussed about it (reaching the ‘ton’). It’s about winning games not about me.”
Square coach Nick Carter and Maine mentor Paul Eyles were both extremely complimentary about Weeks’ performance.
Eyles used at least three players on the prolific Square sharp-shooter. Chris McKnight started on Weeks, Rhys Ford (himself a forward) was given a turn and then veteran Chris Jardine was by Weeks’ side in the latter stages of play.

Final scores from other Rd. 12 matches: Kangaroo Flat 22.20 (152) def. Kyneton 15.11 (101), South Bendigo 20.15 (135) def. Gisborne 7.10 (52), Eaglehawk 12.12 (84) def. Sandhurst 8.11 (59) and Strathfieldsaye 15.12 (102) def. M’borough 12.12 (84).
Top Five: G. Square 11-1 44 prem. points (242%); South Bendigo 11-1 44 (204%); Eaglehawk 10-2 40; Sandhurst 7-5 28; Maryborough 6-6 24.
Goalkickers: Grant Weeks (GS) 14, 106; Justin Maddern (KF) 7, 70; Matt Gretgrix (Eh) 1, 59; Jimmy Condos (Kyn) 6, 57 and Lachlan Sharp (Storm) 5, 41.
A grade netball: S’hurst 54 def. Eaglehawk 29; Gisborne 61 def. Sth. Bendigo 32; Maryborough 38 def. S’saye 27 and Golden Square 57 def. Castlemaine 30.
Top Five: Sandhurst 12 wins, 0 losses, 48 pts.; Kangaroo Flat 8-3-1 draw, 34; Eaglehawk 8-4 32; Gisborne 8-4 32 and Golden Square 7-4-1 draw, 30.

AROUND the traps and LaTrobe Bendigo was preparing to field its first women’s footy team in the Southern Universities Games hosted in their home city.
The side consisted of 19 female students from a range of faculties. They would play two 15-a-side matches against Victoria University and RMIT University at Tannery Lane.
Remember this was 7 years ago before the current full-on focus on women’s footy.
Bridgewater remained unbeaten at the head of the Loddon Valley league ladder, following a 13-goal belting of Inglewood.
Brad Rohde and Andrew Ball landed four goals each for the Mean Machine. In other games Calivil United recorded a 56-point win over Newbridge, Mitiamo belted Bears Lagoon-Serpentine by almost 20 goals while the YCW Eagles posted an 11-goal thumping of Marong.
And there was only one close game in the Heathcote DFL. Elmore rounded out a 19-point victory over Mt. Pleasant -– 8.12 (60) to 5.11 (41) – after coming back from a deficit at half-time.
There were the usual massive scores in the Maryborough-Castlemaine DFL although the Maldon-Avoca game was a close-ish one.
In the end Maldon prevailed: 14.7 (91) to 11.9 (75).
Newstead belted Campbell’s Creek by 85 points, Talbot thumped the Bushies from Royal Park by 66 points and Harcourt had a much smaller win: by 25 points over the more fancied Carisbrook Redbacks.
Avoca was still on top of the ladder with just that loss to Maldon with the Dons second, Newstead third and Rovers fourth.

FAST forward two seasons and Weeka had knocked on the door of the all-time BFL goalkicking record.
The 23-year-old bagged a staggering 21 goals against Kyneton in rd. 15, 2012: just three short of the BFL record held jointly by Eaglehawk’s Harry Morgan and Bendigo City’s Dave Mahoney.
The 21 majors took Weeks to a 2012 season tally of 130.
Morgan, 32, nailed 24 goals in the 1953 season. It was the final home-and-away round that year and Morgan booted his amazing tally against Rochester.
Final scores: Eaglehawk 36.18 (234) to Rochy’s 7.8 (50).
Forty years earlier in September 1913 Mahoney booted his 24 majors in City’s 171-point win over California Gully.
The Gully managed just 3.4 (22) to City’s 30.13 (193). The match was played at the Upper Reserve.
That was back in the days just before WW1 when scores were generally quite low and BFL footy was played on Wednesday afternoons: the half-day holiday enjoyed by hordes of miners working underground in the relentless search for gold.
Mahoney’s record haul came only two seasons after he’d played 2 VFL games for Richmond.

Richard’s tips for Round 12, 2017: Eaglehawk (v Storm), Gisborne (v Kang. Flat), South Bendigo (at M’boro), Kyneton (at C’maine) and G. Square (v Sandhurst, QEO).

By Richard Jones