If Kerang’s domination of the Cohuna Kangas last round didn’t send shivers down the spines of the 10 other Central Murray clubs, then surely their 164-point thrashing of Balranald on the weekend would have.
Both sides were missing key players due to injury and illness, with Kerang ‘s superior depth covering for the absence of Sam Heavyside (hamstring), Ryan Gillingham (hamstring), Jesse Clark and both of their ruckmen in Troy Davis and Scott Pay – while Balranald were without their best player and co-coach Jydon Neagle, as well as Josh Hodgson.
It mattered little to the all-conquering Kerang, as the home side tore the game open in a blistering first quarter performance that saw them pile on nine-goals to one.
It didn’t get much better from there for Balranald, with another eight goals in the second quarter seeing the Blues take a commanding 83-point lead into half time – before going on with the job in the second half to run out comfortable 35.14 (224) to 6.4 (40) victors.
With Kerang dominating the first half, it gave the Blues a chance to experiment after the main break according to joint coach Troy Coates – which could come in handy over the coming weeks with the injury toll starting to mount.
“We just threw our magnets around and let a few of the kids have a go in different roles in the second half just to give them a bit of experience and help with their development – we played really good team footy for the full four quarters which was really pleasing,” Coates said.
“We’ve got the bye next week, which is fortunate, because we’ve got a few injuries at the moment so it’ll give us a good chance to rest a few guys that are a bit banged up and get them right for the run into finals – we had about eight of our best 22 out yesterday so the rest will do us good.”
Ben Fuller played a lone hand up forward for the Roos, with his four-goal haul off the back of limited supply.
Kerang, on the other hand, had 13 individual goal scorers – including Michael Runciman and midfielder Nick Stagg, who both kicked five goals for the day. Brad Pay and Josh Nitschke were sensational through the midfield, as was Rylee Smith – while Bryce Curnow did as he pleased for much of the afternoon in either defence or attack.
Balranald were well served by Drew Lloyd, who worked hard through the midfield and up forward, with Jordan Wilkins getting the better of the inexperienced Samuel Nitschke in the ruck. Ryan Middlebrook was another solid contributor, as were the Lay brothers Ned and Toby and Connor Soraggi.
VOTES
3 – Bradlee Pay (Kerang)
2 – Josh Nitschke (Kerang)
1 – Bryce Curnow (Kerang)
MATCH RESULTS
KERANG 9.5 17.6 28.11 35.14.224
BALRANALD 1.0 4.1 4.2 6.4.40
GOALS – KERANG – Michael Runciman 5, Nicholas Stagg 5, Bradlee Pay 4, Martin Kelly 3, Caleb Nitschke 3, Rylee Smith 3, Troy Coates 2, Bryce Curnow 2, Michael Dalrymple 2, Hayden Hall 2, Sean Hunter 2, Nicholas Pay, Harrison Saunders 1.
BALRANALD – Ben Fuller 4, Braden Price, Connor Soraggi 1.
BEST PLAYERS – KERANG – Bradlee Pay, Josh Nitschke, Bryce Curnow, Rylee Smith, Michael Runciman, Joshua Hunter
BALRANALD – Drew Lloyd, Jordan Wilkins, Connor Soraggi, Toby Lay, Ned Lay
