THE return of Balranald co-coach Jydon Neagle has breathed life into the Roos’ upcoming finals campaign, with last year’s grand finalists recording a 100-point win over Tooleybuc-Manangatang at the weekend.
Playing predominantly forward, Neagle was back to his dangerous best, kicking five goals to lead Balranald to a comfortable 23.12 (150) to 7.8 (50) victory.
It was Neagle’s first game since his team’s round 9 win over Swan Hill after injuring his quadricep.
Balranald are now locked in to face Cohuna at Greenham Park this Sunday in a mouth-watering elimination final.
Despite the final margin blowing out to triple figures, the Saints were far from disgraced in their final match of the season, taking it up to the home side in general play and proving more than competitive around the stoppages.
However, their finishing let them down, with the few times they did go inside their attacking half of the ground often seeing the ball repelled back out by one of Jaxon Neagle, Ryan Middlebrook or Jackson Ferguson, all of whom were solid contributors in the Roos defence.
Whereas Tooleybuc-Manangatang attempted to possess the ball and move the ball down the field by maintaining possession, Balranald moved the ball with speed and switched the play to space on the fat side of the ground, in a clear statement of how they intend to take the game on throughout the finals series.
Balranald’s speed of ball movement was at times impressive to watch, with their ability to not only switch the play but take the game forward at the same time as they transitioned through the corridor helping them go forward into an open forward line.
Although the Roos will go into their do-or-die final without a traditional key-position forward, their combination of Neagle, Drew Lloyd (four goals), Colin Andrews (three goals) and Seth Connell (three goals) worked to perfection, with the quartet all proving problematic for the Saints defence at various times.
Kobe Lloyd, Harrison Soraggi and Matthew Neagle were all strong contributors in the midfield, with Lloyd producing one of his best games of the season in a best-on-ground performance.
The Roos didn’t have things all their own way in the midfield and were made to earn every possession, but their pressure around the contest was first class in a clear sign of things to come.
Connor McDonald showed why he is considered one of the league’s elite ruckmen and was at his damaging best at the stoppages.
His impact was clearly felt in the first quarter, winning several clearances to go with his tap-outs, before the home side closed down on him after quarter-time.
The absence of Jordan Wilkins in the ruck was telling, with the Roos big man spending the bulk of his day forward, with Balranald either resting their ruckman ahead of an important match-up against Cohuna’s Christopher Anderson or nursing an injury.
Another player who came from the field but returned after half-time was Lachlan Lellman, with the high half-forward running the game out ahead of Sunday’s elimination final.
Also among the Saints’ better players was defender John Wardle, who worked tirelessly in defence opposed to several of the Roos’ dangerous forwards, while Blake Grant and Jesse Wilson both found plenty of the ball and Harrison Maher used it well off half-back in his return after missing the last six games.
SCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| Balranald | 6.2 | 12.6 | 18.9 | 23.12 | 150 |
| Tooleybuc-Manangatang | 2.2 | 4.4 | 5.5 | 7.8 | 50 |
VOTES
3 – Kobe Lloyd (Balranald)
2 – Ryan Middlebrook (Balranald)
1 – Harrison Soraggi (Balranald)
