West Gippsland League review

WITH the bye week now in the rear-view mirror, the West Gippsland League teams are onto the home stretch, so it’s time to check in with the head coaches. 

Talking to the Sentinel-Times recently coaches Ben Soumilas (Inverloch Kongwak), Pete Dunlop (Dalyston) and Beau Vernon (Phillip Island) spoke on where their teams are at. 

Phillip Island (Second, 10 wins, 2 losses) 
Beau Vernon
Positives – Playing a full season after two interrupted COVID years.

Negatives – The number of games the under 18s have missed out on playing.

Standout players – Cam Pedersen, Jack Taylor, James Nicolaci.

Significant injuries – Hayden Bruce and Connor Thompson.

Hopes for the second half of the season- To have fun and play a consistent brand of Phillip Island footy across all grades. 

Next three: Cora Lynn, Nar Nar Goon, Dalyston

Inverloch Kongwak (Third, 10 wins, 2 losses) 
Ben Soumilas 
Positives – The connection between our football and netball teams and volunteers is getting stronger each week. Our social calendar is full, there is energy on Thursday nights and our players support each other on match day. It’s a great environment to be a part of. We have been able to develop many young players and expose them to the rigours of senior football, including U18 players, first year players and reserves players. It’s a huge step in securing the future competitiveness of our team. 
Negatives – Injuries to all players across all grades of footy and netball are undoubtedly the standout out negative in what has been a wonderful season on the field and courts this year. 

Standout players – Difficult question to answer. We’re lucky we’ve had such a balanced contribution from many players. The standouts have probably been:
Ethan Park. Our new recruit hasn’t disappointed, he has a competitive attitude, is brave with his attack on the ball and clever and classy when disposing of it. 
Oscar Toussaint. He has been classy with his creative play; he works just as hard both ways, this guy can seriously play. 
Corey Casey. Most WGFNL fans would know that this guy is hard to play against. He has an elite engine, and he just does not stop trying, he has developed himself into not just a very talented midfielder but also an influential leader at our club. 
Dylan Clark. He’s like a beautifully old Rolls Royce. He is a class act and remains a favourite son at IK. He’s displayed some career best form this year. So many other players are unlucky not to get a mention. 

Significant injuries – In the senior team, we’ve had some niggly injuries and few major ones but none more disappointing than the season ending injury to Gaz Park. Unfortunately, we’ll need to support him for 12 months and wait until next year to see him contribute to some IK wins. 

Hopes for the second half of the season – We hope to win enough games to make the finals, get a full healthy and fit list and then find some form in the last month of the season. 

Next three: Korumburra-Bena, Tooradin-Dalmore, Kilcunda-Bass. 

Kilcunda-Bass (Eight, 5 wins, 7 losses)
Positives – The Panthers have shown great improvement under new head coach Lee Rowe, having strung together four straight wins after their big upset over Bunyip in Round 9. They have also had young players debut and contribute across the year and new recruits play well. 

Negatives – The negatives for the Panthers have been their early season losses and their tendency to allow large scores against. They also have struggled to transition and move the ball to their desired standard at times. 

Standout players – Nathan Foote has been a boom recruit for the Panthers, showing his flair through the midfield. Taylor Gibson has been dominant up forward. Cam McKenzie and Dale Gawley have been terrific also.

Significant Injuries – Star recruit Ben Eddy is a big loss as well as Kye Benson, who has battled hamstring issues throughout the year but has shown great promise since returning. 

Hopes – The Panthers would be hopeful they can mount a charge for the finals as they sit just two games out of the top six, but they have built momentum…

Next three: Tooradin Dalmore, Cora Lynn, Inverloch Kongwak. 

Dalyston (10th, 2 wins, 10 losses) 
Pete Dunlop
Positives - we’ve seen some of our underage players debut and make an impact, like Jaxon Foon and Stewart Beaumont. The training numbers and standard have been up on previous years, and whilst we’ve only won the 2 games, we have been in 4-5 of the games we’ve lost right up until the final siren.

Negatives - we’ve had some low scoring games where we’ve only been able to score 2-3 goals. 

Standout players - Michael Marotta and Curtis Murfett have been standouts, Mason Storr and Jack Paravicini have been excellent as well. 

Significant injuries/absence - Musa Amin - broken arm, Blake Carew – missed the first seven games, Jack Paravicini missed three games, Matt Pearce – missing for seven to eight games, Adam Amin - away on international cricket duties. 

Hopes - We want to be competitive against every team. Continue to play the style we have set up and hopefully win three or four more games on the run home. 

Next three: Koo Wee Rup, Warragul Industrials, Phillip Island.

Korumburra-Bena (11th, 1 win, 11 losses)
Positives – The Giants have been able to get consistent football into much of their young core, whether that be under 18s or reserves players and look to be enjoying the new gameplan under new coach Leigh Cole. They’ve also seen regular senior starters Luke Walker and Joel Cuman selected in the under 18s interleague team. 

Negatives – Once again a large negative for Korumburra-Bena is their extensive injury list, which has bled down to reserve level where they are light on for numbers. 

Standout players – Skipper Darcy Hargrave, along with Matt Lello, Josh Hargreaves and Nick Besley have all been great throughout the season. 

Significant injuries – A season ending shoulder injury to young gun Bailey Patterson headlines a list that seemingly keeps getting bigger for the team in orange, including key players Alex Walker, Jay Walker, and Jordan Hill to name a few. 

Hopes – The Giants will hold hope they can endure what is a tough run home and produce a win or two to end the unlucky season they’ve had in 2022. 

Next three: Tooradin Dalmore, Inverloch Kongwak, Bunyip. 

As it stands, Tooradin Dalmore sit atop the league ladder undefeated with 12 wins, Nar Nar Goon sit in fourth with nine wins. 
Cora Lynn sits fifth with seven wins and the Warragul Industrials round out the top six, with their seven wins after knocking off Phillip Island last time out. 
Finals hopefuls Bunyip (five wins) sit just outside the top six. 
While Koo Wee Rup may have just lost touch in ninth with their four wins. 
Garfield sits in 12th, still in pursuit of their first victory.