LEONGATHA bounced back from their second loss of the season with a workmanlike display against Traralgon at the Traralgon Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
The match featured a typically dour opening quarter with both teams scoring two goals apiece, but Leongatha made light of the slippery ball and wintry conditions to kick five goals to one in the second quarter to take complete control of the game.
Which was no mean feat when you consider Leongatha’s team on Saturday included 11 players that weren’t part of the Parrots’ 2023 premiership team only nine short months ago.
Where household names including Tom Marriott, Cade Maskell, Aaron Hillberg, Cam Olden, Sean Westaway, Luke Bowman and Aaron Heppell had been, the Parrots stood up 11 new soldiers and to think that they could hold their own with one of the powerhouse teams of the competition was impressive.
Not that the players they’ve added don’t come in with their own talent and experience.
Max Donohue is having another excellent year with Gippy Power, Mitch Bentvelzen, Nick Argento and Adam Trotto have all come through the Leongatha system strongly, and Julian Callahan is another Gippy Power talent who joined in seamlessly on Saturday. Jacob Lamers, Matthew Borschman, Jarrod Stewart, Ty Hall, Darcy Hume and Kyle Brown all come in knowing what’s required.
It's a tribute to the Parrots’ coaching staff though, and the Leongatha program that they can continue on at such a high level with those personnel changes.
There was just enough of the required leadership from Ben Willis, Jake van der Pligt, Kim Drew, Tallin Brill and Sam Forrester on the ball, and the necessary experience front and back from the likes of Jackson Harry, Jenson Granham and Jack Ginnane up forward and Will Littlejohn and Mitch Bentvelzen down back; to complete the winning mix on the day.
There was a lot to like about how the Parrots went about it, constantly driving the ball forward, from stoppages and also off half back with good skills and numbers and when they got it forward, competing hard to keep it there until they produced a score, not in the classic kick-lead-mark fashion, but by forcing it through from close range.
That was typical of the first couple of goals of the third quarter when Jackson Harry won an important one-on-one contest to soccer the ball through and a carbon copy from Julian Callahan soon after.
It was enough to ice the game (quite literally) in an otherwise tightly contested second half.
Traralgon produced its moments in the match including a spectacular mark by young Josh Hamilton on the clubhouse wing, a fine effort with a slippery ball.
With the Loy Yang A powerhouse smoking it up in the background, the Parrots came away with a very pleasing 34-point victory ahead the ‘local derby’ against a resurgent Wonthaggi side at Parrot Park next Saturday.
