THE club-first mentality of five under-18 players was the highlight of Mildura’s 39-point win over South Mildura at the best venue in north-west Victoria on Saturday.
Cameron Keil, Josh Goss, Brodie Jones, Tarrant Lihou and RJ Watson all put their hands up to play in the morning to help the Demons secure a finals berth in the under-18s before then doubling up for the senior game in the afternoon.
And the Demons’ fab five slept well that night on the back of two great wins that solidified the direction of the club.
Mildura coach Illario Cavallo said it was a “club decision” for the young guns to play two games for the day.
“We thought about it,” he said. “This was the game for the under-18s to hopefully cement themselves in the finals. I spoke to them during the week and they really wanted to play senior football. Their ability to do both for us was incredible for the whole club.
“As kids, as people, I love them all to bits the way they go about their footy is just outstanding and I’m really proud of them.
“Those boys, they are very good footballers and they deserve to be playing senior football, but they stepped up for the club and just continue to improve.”
Mildura, in second last place in the seniors and with no chance of playing finals, set up their win in the main game with a stunning 15-minute blitz in the first quarter. After South Mildura scored the opener on the perfect surface at Mildura Sporting Precinct (why on earth are we playing our grand final at City Oval? It’s embarrassing) the Demons completely opened up the Dogs with seven unanswered goals to surge to a 44 to 6 lead by the 18-minute mark of the first term.
The game-breaking surge came on the back of the speed and skill of the Dees’ young brigade.
Keil was especially impressive early, backing up his excellent game against Red Cliffs the previous week with a gut-running performance, while Thomas Floyd kicked a memorable banana goal on the run to set his team alight.
But the early dominance also came off the back of some of Mildura’s more experienced stars, notably the silky-skilled Zac Nelson and ultra consistent Dylan Murphy, as well as ball magnet Mitch Rogerson.
The quick ball movement allowed big forward Regan Cavallaro to get one-on-one contests and he didn’t let his team down, booting some telling goals early on the way to a bag of six.
“That was the best game he has played,” the coach said of Cavallaro.
South Mildura, to their credit, didn’t turn up their toes after that initial onslaught.
Playing coach Ben Dalton was instrumental in stemming the bleeding from across half-back in the second term, not just with his voice and direction, but his reading of the play from behind the ball.
The stocky right-footer found plenty of the pill and used it smartly, as did the ever-reliable Liam Wood, as the Bulldogs began to square the contest.
Big Dog Tyler Curtis also got involved, working between midfield and the forward line, and letting fly with his huge left leg with the wind as the Dogs slowly clawed their way back.
Anthony Gauci was a constant menace in attack, finishing with four goals in an outstanding performance, while Lachlan Fisher capitalised on the absence of Mildura ruckman Harrison Monk to be the dominant big man on the ground.
But Mildura, who were also without experienced stars Josh Dean and Ben Camilleri, were never in any real danger of losing after that early seven-goal blitz.
“When we have our best team on the park, we have been in games against the likes of Wentworth and Ouyen, all those teams, but it has just been our ability to play four quarters,” Cavallo said. “The last three our four weeks we have been able to do that and it shows we are going in the right direction.
“The culture is great. All the boys are in it together. You can see the love that is out there. It is about us sticking together.”
