The Weekly Wrap | The biggest story of the weekend in all forms of football had its origin story coming out of the Gippsland FNL.
Sale FNC product Scott Pendlebury officially became the AFL’s games record holder, surpassing the previous mark to move to 433 career matches. Pendlebury’s remarkable rise from junior football at Sale to becoming arguably the competition’s greatest ever accumulator should be recognised and celebrated right across country Victoria showing it’s importance as a football heartland and breeding ground .
Another weekend has come and gone across country Victoria and despite seven leagues having the bye, the scoring certainly didn’t slow down. In fact, we recorded the highest average winning margin of the season so far of 62.37 points, with more than thirty 100+ point victories recorded across the state in a weekend dominated by blowouts. Carisbook FNC led the big scorers amassing the ninth highest score for the season so far when they kicked 37.21 243 in a big win over Campbells Creek FNC in thier Maryborough Castlemaine District FNL clash. Coupled with this were also some incredibly low scores recorded, with Dimboola FNC managing just 1.1 7 for the day as the lowest for the weekend.. Campbell's Creek FNC, Westerns FNC, Charlton FNC and PowelltownFNC all finished with 1.2 8 in difficult afternoons for their respective forward lines in each fo their leagues..
The headline interleague clash for the season so far saw the Bendigo FNL break through for its first win over the Ovens & Murray FNL since the 1990 Country Championships semi-final, defeating the powerhouse competition 14.13 97 to 11.11 77. Bendigo exploded out of the blocks with a stunning opening quarter, piling on 7.5 47 to 1.1 7 at quarter time before the O and M eventually clawed its way back to within twenty points by the end of the day.
Former AFL Bulldog and Hawk Fergus Greene captained the victorious BFNL outfit, while ex Essendon defender Michael Hartley kicked three goals. Former Richmond listed player Kaelan Bradtke also finished with three majors for the Ovens & Murray FNL side. The result ended a drought stretching back more than three decades, with the two leagues not having met since 1997 prior to Saturday’s clash.
The Hampden FNL also enjoyed success against the Ballarat FNL under 23 representative side, winning 11.7 73 to 8.16 64. Former AFL Kangaroo and West Coast Eagle Drew Petrie coached the Ballarat outfit, who will no doubt lament their inaccuracy in front of goal after registering sixteen behinds in the nine point defeat.
There were three separate one-point games played across the state, with inaccurate kicking proving costly in several results. In the Bellarine FNL, Ocean Grove FNC kicked themselves out of victory against Portarlington FNC, going down 9.8 62 to 8.13 61 despite having far more scoring shots. Former Essendon captain Dyson Heppell used the Gippsland League bye to line up for Horsham FNC in the Wimmera FNL and kicked two goals, but his side also fell by a single point, losing 9.5 59 to Warrack Eagles FNC 8.12 60.
The final one-point result produced one of the biggest upsets of the season when Nar Nar Goon FNC’s extraordinary thirty two game winning streak finally came to an end. Their defeat means one of country Victoria’s longest active unbeaten runs is officially over. Rosebud FNC also suffered its first defeat in sixteen matches, ending another impressive streak that had stretched back deep into last season.
Former AFL midfielder Tom Mitchell reminded everyone he still knows how to find the football, collecting a staggering 54 disposals and kicking a goal for Rutherglen FNC in its fourteen point win over Beechworth in the Tallangatta & District FNL, proving to be the difference between the two sides in the match. One drought that did come to an end was in the Ellinbank & District FNL where Nyora FNC finally snapped a ten game losing streak, earning a much needed victory after a difficult opening half of the season.
There were monster individual goal kicking hauls once again over the weekend, led by Carisbrook’s Tim Rinaldi who booted an incredible sixteen goals. Girgarre FNC’s Billy Barnes finished with thirteen, while Hawkesdale / Macarthur FNC’s Mark Clissold, Allansford FNC’s Robbie Hare, Cowwarr FNC’s Keenan Hughes and Edenhope Apsley FNC’s Will Irwin all managed twelve goals each. Leongatha FNC’s Jenson Garnham and Winchelsea FNC’s Cameron Primmer rounded out the double figure club with eleven goals apiece.
The race to be the first player to fifty goals for the season has now officially been won by two players simultaneously. Tim Rinaldi’s sixteen goal avalanche elevated him to 52 goals for the year, while Kiewa Sandy Creek FNC spearhead Guy Telford also reached 52 after another seven goal haul. Pyramid Hill FNC’s Jhye Baddeley-Kelly and Cowwarr FNc’s Keenan Hughes sit next on 44 goals, alongside Longwarry FNC’s Jason Wells who also moved to 44 after another productive afternoon in front of the big sticks.
