By Nick Vine
THE dark and gloomy weather at Euston was in stark contrast to the happy and jubilant home crowd and team, as Robinvale-Euston outclassed a flat Ouyen United on Saturday.
Led by coach Andrew Richardson and company in the midfield, the Eagles had winners all over the ground in the ultimate team performance.
The 50-point win over a Kangas team missing a host of their stars due to restrictions has kept Robinvale Euston’s slim finals hopes alive, lifting their season record to 2-5 ahead of a big home game against Merbein next weekend.
Richardson, Justin Marriot and Phillip Moimoi were superb around the stoppages and ran hard to link up and get the ball to their forwards. Their clean hands and effective use of the football made the Kangas look second rate at times and resigned to a long day of chasing.
The Eagles’ twin towers of Justin Neyland and Jake Calvert were the beneficiaries of the precise and quick ball movement, kicking seven goals between them.
Besides a 10-minute blemish in the second quarter, where corridor turnovers allowed Ouyen United to reduce the halftime margin to just 17 points, the Eagles were brave and sublime in their ball movement.
‘We wanted to play risk reward footy today and kick a big score, which is something we haven’t been able to do this year,” Richardson said.
“It was pleasing to get our run and mojo back.”
The Eagles went into the game with a plan and it worked brilliantly. Tagger Michael Zappia quelled the influence of reigning Kangas best and fairest winner Alex Morrish, whilst Tim Kimberly did the job on the elusive Warrick Brady on the wing.
“Even though Morrish and Brady got a few goals late in the game, our boys did a great job at making sure they didn’t cut us up with their run and ball use,” Richardson said.
“Everyone played their role in our team today.”
Robinvale defender Braidyn Turner also did a phenomenal job on limiting the impact of former Hawthorn player Dallas Willsmore, utilising his speed and strength to regularly bump Willsmore off the football in the match-up of the day.
The Kangas struggled to stop the Eagles spreading from the contest in the second half, as the pressure and energy that brought them the impressive win against Imperials became a distant memory.
Stalwart Andrew Jardine and the speedy Ryan Monaghan played strong games in defence, but there was not much more they could as the Eagles had a seemingly endless flow of clean inside 50 entries.
The positives the Kangas will take out of the game are the successful debut of Joel Grace and the run of Warrick Brady, with the silky pair kicking half of the Kangas score on a day where others struggled to capitalise on their scoring opportunities.
During the two-week break, Richardson’s question to his team was “why can’t we make finals?
“Three things we learnt- Graceful debut15 year-old Joel Grace looked at home in the Kangas’ forward line on debut, slotting two goals, including his side’s first for the game.
He presented strongly up the ground, taking a host of uncontested marks.
Grace has a strong aerobic capacity and looked assured when he had possession. It’s almost 10 years since his father and Mallee Football League legend Wayne Grace played a key forward line role in an Ouyen United senior premiership.
The Kangas fans will hope to see similar exploits from Joel in the future.- Breathing easier with Gill, Eagles star Ethan Gill made his long-awaited season debut and whilst he wasn’t at his elite best, Gill still had a major effect on those around him.
Elated coach Andrew Richardson spoke highly of Gill’s return. “Our side walks taller with Gilly in the team. His presence and experience are invaluable to us,” he said.
It is clear to see that the Eagles are a more confident and capable side with their beloved big man in the team. – Smith is a hard nutUnder 18 Interleague representative Heath Smith is making a name for himself as a tough, hard-nosed midfielder/flanker who thrives on the contested ball.
He kicked a goal in the second quarter before he copped a nasty blow to the head. He came back on with a head-full of tape and never shirked a contest, showing the same ruggedness that made his father Darren Smith a revered opponent in the Mallee.
