An eight-goal final term and the surprise on-field appearance of its senior coach were two highlights of Merrigum's winning start to the 2024 Kyabram District League season.
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New Merrigum coach Leigh Hall, who is 49 years old, played alongside his son Brayden in the 26-point win against the returning Rushworth club after the teams had been dead level at half-time and separated by four points at the final break.
Merrigum, which kicked 1.7 in the second term and almost lost the game with poor kicking, turned that around in the last quarter and kicked 8.1 — despite being a player down after a late send off in the game — to power home for the home ground victory.
Hall, who last played senior football with Stanhope in 2015, was a late call-up to the senior team when captain Zak Parkinson was forced to withdraw from the opening round match.
He was one of numerous new faces in the team, which included several recruits from Murray league club Echuca United and a break-out named in the reserves, had a late out.
The match was Rushworth's first senior appearance in the league since 2023 after it fielded only a reserve grade team last year.
It acquitted itself very well, trailing by two points at the first break and by less than a goal at the final change.
A 12-goal final-term was a thrilling finish for spectators at the Merrigum Recreation Reserve, who also witnessed a break-out six-goal game by Bulldogs key forward Matthew Wild.
Wild, a former captain of Picola District league club Mathoura, arrived at Merrigum last year after starting the season with the Timbercutters.
He kicked nine goals in 10 games with the Bulldogs last season, having played mainly reserve grade football with Tongala and Kyabram in the preceding seasons.
Wild's six majors, coupled with two goals from promoted reserve grade player Joel McCarten and four from recruits Jake Gascoyne and Shelby Ludlow-Lambrick allowed the Bulldogs to post a winning tally.
Ludlow-Lambrick was recruited to the club from Heathcote league club Leitchville Gunbower and with fellow recruits Mason Coote, Connor Shannon (both Echuca United) and Brad Taylor were major contributors for the Bulldogs.
• Stanhope kicked the first three goals of its match against reigning premier Lancaster on Saturday, after the Wombats unfurled the flag, but there were few highlights to follow for the Lions.
By half-time an eight-point quarter-time lead for Lancaster had been extended to 32 points, before the Wombats kicked nine goals to Stanhope's two in the final half.
Lancaster eventually won the game by 78 points, having 32 scoring shots to Stanhope's nine as opportunities were scarce for the Lions’ forwards.
Tomas Rennie, who kicked 62 goals in 16 games for Stanhope last season, was the target of a close-checking defence which was led superbly again by the evergreen Phil Carroll.
He combined with Oliver McAuliffe, chiefly responsible for keeping Rennie to one goal for the game, and new captain Sam Spedding to restrict the Lions’ scoring opportunities from quarter-time onward.
Missing from the Wombats’ premiership team were retired captain Brad Orr, rucking duo Ricky Thomson and Nick Ryan, game-breaking key forward Jake Mills and Jack Donnell, who was on the opposition Stanhope team after playing in the senior premiership team with Lancaster in September last year.
Donnell, in fact, was a first-quarter goal-kicker for Stanhope before the Wombats got into fall swing on the back of five goals from reigning best-and-fairest winner Zac Cerrone and four goals from Riley O'Neill.
O'Neill played only three senior games last season with Lancaster, having been the hard luck story of 2022.
He played all 19 games at senior level in that season before being dropped to the reserve grade team for the grand final.
His performance in the key forward post on Saturday could be a pointer to what lies ahead, as he has mostly been used in a wingman's role for the Wombats.
Two time VCFL medallist, as the best player on the ground in the grand final, Cameron Simpson collected his usual amount of the Sherrin and had a good battle with key Stanhope midfielder Nathan O'Reilly.
Stanhope's 2023 best-and-fairest Jonathan Pearson kicked two of Stanhope's six goals and Tongala recruits Blake McAuliffe and Daniel Maher were among the best for the Lions.
• Nine goals from Tallygaroopna man mountain Brent Arho was the difference between Girgarre starting its season on a winning note and ending its round one match as a 36 point loser.
Arho, who played only three games and kicked eight goals in division two of the Queensland Football Association last season, is a widely-travelled player.
He has twice kicked 100 goals in a single season with Tallygaroopna, back in 2012 (123 goals in 18 games) and then in 2016 (108 goals in 19 games).
The former Mooroopna star has a history of kicking big bags of goals, having big seasons with Collingullie and Griffith in the Riverina Football League to his credit.
Tallygaroopna started slowly and the recruits of the Kangaroos, in particular Steve Phillips (a two-time Lancaster reserve grade premiership player) and Joshua Marino, guided their team to a four-point quarter-time lead.
However, by half-time it was 20 points in favour of Tallygaroopna as Arho and vice-captain Kyle Montgomery took a strangle hold on the game.
Girgarre was by no means disgraced in the second half, kicking five goals to Tally's seven as Ethan Palma-Ludeman, Tom Walsh, Marino and Phillips all kicked two goals.
Captain Harry Browning-Briese had the tough job of standing Arho for a majority of the match at full-back and gained support from ruckman Byron Dryden, who dropped back into defence to be third-up in several contests.
Kyabram Free Press and Campaspe Valley News editor