Tight tussle for newlook Moe and Leongatha

SEVENTEEN of the players who ran out at Sale on Gippsland League preliminary final day last year didn’t take the field for the ‘match of the day’ between Leongatha and Moe at Leongatha on Saturday.

The backbone of both sides was there, Tom Marriott setting the tone for the Parrots with six or seven possessions in the first 12 minutes, Luke Bowman also strong out of the centre, Cade Maskell playing that floating defensive role to perfection and big Benny Willis, ably assisted by Josh Schelling promoted from the Reserves, strong in the ruck as usual.

The two-pronged forward attack of Jenson Garnham and Jack Ginnane was another consistent feature as too was the drive provided by Jack Hume and the creative efforts of Aaron Turton up forward, notably with the first goal of the match to get the home side started.

But there were seven players in the Parrots’ lineup who weren’t there in the 2023 grand final; Mitch Bentvelzen strong out of defence, Nick Argento providing flashes of brilliance around the flanks, Matt Borschman slotting in easily, Ned Hanily making a welcome return and the likes of Cooper Alger and Kyle Brown playing their roles.

Moe had 10 changes from the side that played in last year’s prelim.

The tall timbers of Chris Prowse in the ruck and Nick Prowse up forward were a feature again, the Baldi brothers, especially Riley going on winning streaks out of the centre on several occasions, Declan Keilty intercepting as he liked, especially early until Jack Ginnane and co made him more accountable, Harrison Pepper busy up forward, Luke Mulqueen in the key defensive role, and Lachie McGrath up forward and around the packs made Moe competitive, especially in defence.

But with the likes of Blaser, Cocksedge, Daniher, Ceppi and Gowers among 10 missing, it was a major overhaul that somehow didn’t look a whole lot different.

They challenged the Parrots until half time, and came back at them in the last quarter indicating that they will develop into one of the main contenders as the season progresses.

The Parrots and Moe traded goals in a spirited opening to the match, with Keilty intercepting down back to start an attacking move that finished with Nick Prowse on the lead to answer Turton’s quick opening goal.

Bowman out of the centre was good, but Riley Baldi was having the best of it, front and centre to the competitive efforts of their ruckman Chris Prowse.

Nick Prowse might have had the next when he hit the post and they paid the price with Leongatha going coast-to-coast through Hume and Argento to Jenson Garnham on the lead.

He looked on for a bag as he gave his opponent the slip with ease.

But, honestly, Moe had the best of it for the remainder of the quarter, Nick Prowse continuing to look dangerous up forward and Leongatha trying to plug gaps instead of going on the attack themselves.

Ultimately, Moe got reward for effort when Harry Pepper marked on the angle and Tom Matthews got a late goal to put them in front at the first change.

Parrots’ coach Trent McMicking wasn’t well pleased, especially with the Parrots’ pressure. He urged them to “get an arm across” at the first break and to be accountable and they responded with five goals to one in the second quarter to take control on a glorious day for football… anything.

Moe evened it up again in the second half but the damage was done and Leongatha went on to a 16-point win with plenty to like about their inclusions including Ned Hanily who got better and better the further the match went and Josh Schelling adding a string to McMicking’s bow by stepping up to give Ben Willis a chop out as required.

Leongatha is still enjoying the benefits of being able to bring more of its talented younger players forward which again underscores the importance of that increasingly scarce commodity these days, Under 18s wanting to play football.