Stanhope eases past Undera, Rushy beaten heavily

Stanhope and Undera both entered their meeting at Stanhope Recreation Reserve off the back of heavy defeats, with the former hovering around the top six, while the latter was languishing near the bottom of the ladder.

The hosts made a strong start, kicking five first quarter goals to two from the visitors to hold a 27-point lead at the first change.

The second term followed the same script — Stanhope booting five majors to Undera’s two — as Matt Butler’s side already had one hand on the four points by half-time, leading 10.14 (74) to 4.1 (25).

Undera was playing primarily for pride in the second half, and although it improved offensively with nine goals across the third and fourth quarters, so did Stanhope, as the hosts doubled its first half goals tally to comfortably win 20.19 (139) to 13.4 (82).

In an impressive one-two punch, 14 of Stanhope’s 20 majors were made up by Amir Meyerowitz and Jack Donnell, who kicked eight and six respectively, while Undera’s Russell Sheriff was also in fine form with five goals.

It was no surprise that all three players made their side’s best players list, with Stanhope also including Rory James Patterson, Lior Smart, Tyler Norman, and Bol Wol, and Undera naming Beau Jackson, Archer Carlile, Riley Moon, Matthew Perazzola and Deakin Easterbrook.

Stanhope is seemingly rooted into seventh place on the ladder currently, with it likely needing to start beating sides above it to move up, an opportunity that will present itself when the Lions travel to Murchison-Toolamba on June 13.

Meanwhile, Undera is 11th with one win from seven games, and its challenges won’t get any easier when rampant league leaders Nagambie travel to Undera Recreation Reserve after this weekend’s general bye.

Girgarre v Longwood

Girgarre snapped a three-game skid by thrashing Merrigum in round seven, but a visit from finals contender Longwood would test whether the Kangaroos had truly turned a corner.

The early evidence suggested Tyler McNamara’s team would be able to match it with the Redlegs, as Girgarre only trailed by two goals at the first change, kicking one major to Longwood’s three.

The second quarter would see the Kangaroos begin to falter, as Longwood tightened its grip on the match with four goals to two to take a comfortable cushion into half-time, leading 7.9 (51) to 3.4 (22).

The visitors effectively secured victory in the third term with another six majors — Girgarre booting four — before less goalmouth action followed in the fourth as only three goals were kicked, the Kangaroos going down 9.7 (61) to 16.15 (111).

Although unable to build on last week, Girgarre did have positives in three goals for Jack McKenzie, who was joined by Ben Turpin, Shaun Haffenden, Josh Hayes, Jack Dunn, and Reardon McIvor on the best players list.

McNamara’s side remained in ninth on the ladder despite a fourth loss in five matches, with a trip to sixth-placed Avenel up next on June 13.

Shepparton East v Merrigum

Merrigum travelled to Shepparton East not being expected to upset the apple-cart against the heavily favoured Eagles, the Bulldogs still the only winless side in the competition.

The match at Central Park Recreation Reserve would start in a heavily one-sided fashion, as Shepparton raced out to a 30-point lead by quarter-time, holding Merrigum scoreless while kicking 4.6 at the other end.

Merrigum finally hit the scoreboard in the second term but couldn’t slow down the Eagles, who added another four goals to their total, with only inaccuracy preventing a greater half-time lead, the hosts up 7.16 (58) to 1.1 (7) at the main break.

Merrigum was kept scoreless again in the third quarter, but finished stronger with three goals in the final term, though it was cosmetic, Shepparton adding another 10 majors in the second half to win 17.30 (132) to 4.2 (26).

A positive for Bulldogs coach Jason Verhoeven would have been seeing his side have four separate goal-kickers, and Merrigum’s best on the day included Brayden Hall, Ayden Siermans, Riley Williams, Talbot Varcoe, Koady Murdoch and Falcon Taurua.

The Bulldogs still haven’t won a game in the competition since June 2024, and will have to wait a while before their next attempt to end the rut, not playing again until June 20 against Longwood.

Rushworth v Murchison-Toolamba

Inconsistent Rushworth has undoubtedly dropped off from its 2025 highs, though the Tigers went into a big clash with reigning premier Murchison-Toolamba with some confidence, coming off a 67-point win over Undera.

Rushy was still the underdog against the Grasshoppers, but stayed in the fight during the first quarter, the Tigers only kicking one goal but not allowing Murchison to pull away too far, as the visitors booted four of their own.

But it didn’t take long for Murchison to effectively end the match as a contest, with the second quarter seeing it kick nine majors and taking total control, Rushworth only mustering three behinds and being down big at half-time, 1.6 (12) to 13.8 (86).

Murchison would only improve in the second half, booting a whopping 18 more goals to the Tigers’ four across the third and fourth quarters, running up the final margin to be well over three figures, Rushworth conceding its highest total since August 2022 in a 5.8 (38) to 31.13 (199) loss.

The Tigers’ five goals on the day each had a different scorer, while Brad Canny, Jeremy Lambden, Matthew Ludbrook, Ryan Beale, Mittch Lee, and Nico McKinley were named in their best players.

Rushworth slipped down to 10th on the ladder with the heavy defeat, but it can move level on points with eighth-placed Tallygaroopna in its next match, the two sides meeting on June 13 at Tallygaroopna Recreation Reserve.

The Redlegs will enter that clash off the back of a win, having done just enough to defeat Violet Town elsewhere in round eight’s slate, Tallygaroopna prevailing 14.10 (94) to 11.6 (72) in a well-fought contest.

Finally, Nagambie continues to beat all-comers this season, with its latest victim being Avenel, a dominant second half seeing the Lakers triumph 18.14 (122) to 5.10 (40) at Nagambie Recreation Reserve.