Border Mail |
COROWA-Rutherglen coach Adrian Pavese has fired a barb at Ovens and Murray officials after the Roos suffered a record-breaking defeat at the hands of Yarrawonga.
Pavese questioned the fairness of the fixture as records tumbled left, right and centre at john Foord Oval yesterday.
Not only was the 134-point final margin the Pigeons’ biggest over the Roos, the embarrassing 29-point total Corowa-Rutherglen managed for the entire afternoon was its lowest score against Yarrawonga since joining the competition in 1979.
The Roos didn’t register a single point until the 15-minute mark of the second quarter and didn’t kick their first goal until moments before the half-time siren.
Yarrawonga’s galaxy of stars all ran riot yesterday, with Kayne Pettifer, Xavier Leslie and Craig Ednie the pick of them.
Pettifer played his best game for the Pigeons since arriving over the summer, booting a game-high total of eight goals in a devastating display up forward.
Leslie and Ednie were everywhere and received plenty of help from Nick Lawless, Jeremy O’Brien and Tyler Bonat in his first game for the year.
Brendan Fevola, meanwhile, was again wasteful in front of goal and finished with a disappointing total of 6.8 for the game.
It was his fourth match in the space of eight days.
Although thrilled with the emphatic final margin, the fact the Pigeons restricted the Roos to just four goals for the match was what co-coach Chris Kennedy described as the most pleasing aspect of yesterday’s win.
“I’m a lot happier than I was last week,” Kennedy said.
“When we’re playing good footy we play a real high pressure game.
“I thought it was a really hot footy for Corowa in this game.”
Kennedy said the Pigeons, who conceded the fewest points of any side last year, prided themselves on having a water-tight defence.
“Last year we had the best defensive side in the competition,” he said.
“And that’s one thing we really try to work on. When these boys run forward of the footy, it doesn’t look pretty.
“When we’re defending well, we play well.”
The Roos named captain Jamie Seymour as their best player on the day but he received little help as Corowa-Rutherglen sunk to its lowest point for the season.
It doesn’t get easier, either, with the out of sorts Roos set to tackle Lavington this week.
Coach Adrian Pavese was at a loss when asked how the club could turn yesterday’s performance around in time for Saturday’s tough assignment away from home.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he said.
And while Pavese made it crystal clear yesterday’s performance wasn’t acceptable, regardless of the fixture, he said the league hadn’t made it any easier for the struggling club with such a tough start to the year.
“Look, the draw hasn’t been kind to us,” Pavese said.
“We’re not going to make excuses but I just believe that at AFL level, the sides that finish down the bottom of the ladder don’t get a generous run the next year, but they certainly get looked after early to help build memberships and support.
“It gives the players a bit of hope they go into every game with a chance.
“I think the O and M needs to look at that.
“We’ve got a duty to the game.
“In the end our performance was sub-standard, regardless of draws, injuries and everything else but a 10-team competition has got to be viable.”
Pavese, in his fourth game as coach, slammed the Roos’ showing.
“We were under no illusions that we’d be up against it today, our list is nowhere near their list, but we felt that we could have a bit of crack,” he said.
“But that was a football lesson.
“We know we’re an extremely fair way behind the pace, but we’ve just got to keep at it and keep trying to fight hard and find a way out.
“We’ve got a good young group.”
