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Sport

4 April, 2024

Giants and Hawks do battle in historic encounter at Hedges Oval

It’s a historic occasion for the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League on Saturday when the Maryborough Giants take to the field and the court against the B.A Road Services Talbot Hawks. The Giants will be looking to take a big...

By Michael Thompson

Giants and Hawks do battle in historic encounter at Hedges Oval - feature photo

It’s a historic occasion for the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League on Saturday when the Maryborough Giants take to the field and the court against the B.A Road Services Talbot Hawks.

The Giants will be looking to take a big step in both football and netball competitions following the merger between Maryborough Rovers and Royal Park, while Talbot will be looking to break through for a football finals appearance, while also continuing their climb up the ladder on the netball court.

In terms of what to expect on the field, it’s always a bit difficult with a new club on the horizon.

Yet there is optimism at Hedges Oval that the Maryborough Giants can make an impact right from the get-go.

With new coach Damian Cupido at the helm, it is a new dawn for football in Maryborough, and they’ll be hoping to get the balance right as they look to improve from a combined six wins between Maryborough Rovers and Royal Park in 2023.

While the new club has seen players who played for both clubs depart, with the likes of Joel Radlof, Mark Ashmore, Rhys Egan, Jacob Dyer, Billy and Alex Mahony, Brandon Solomano and Trent Monk all leaving, there’s also been some solid inclusions for the club with the hopes of soaring into the finals race.

Macorna’s Alex Kirby, Girgarre’s Talbot Varcoe, Carisbrook’s Aiden Carter, Inglewood trio Mason Wright, Seth Hoskin and Ethan Wright and Winchelsea’s Damian Tabakobic have all arrived at the club, and they’ll be hoping to add to the Giants profile in their exciting new journey.

But Talbot, under the tutelage of Phil Crouch, will be determined to finally jump up into the finals mix throughout the 2024 season, having fallen frustratingly short during the 2022 and 2023 season, finishing ninth in both campaigns.

How the Hawks go early on will determine their path forward for the season, and with the Giants followed by Avoca and Lexton, the Hawks can give themselves a chance of starting their season on the right foot.

Headlining the inclusions for the Hawks will be Egan, Ashmore and Solomano, meaning it will be interesting to see how they go returning to a ground with many memories across the years.

The Hawks have had a solid off-season on the recruitment front, with Matt Ward arriving from Redan, Dylan Page coming in from Waubra and Mark Lane arriving from Taylors Lake.

It’s also the second consecutive game at Hedges Oval for the Hawks, having finished their season at the ground last season in the emotional final meeting for Royal Park, surviving all the Tigers’ advances to win by a goal.

Similarly, it will also be difficult to assess the Giants on the court in the early stages of the season.

Certainly, there will be quite the boost putting both teams together from their merger, having seen Maryborough Rovers play off in last year’s finals and bravely making the semi-finals after a terrific victory over Dunolly in the elimination final, while Royal Park finished 10th, yet impressed in junior grades, with many teams competing hard for premierships.

How the Giants fare will be interesting, as a result, with the hopes of sliding in to the conversation for the top four with the combination of two good teams as a result.

Powerful scorer Annalyse Carroll will be in charge of the A grade lineup, having provided an excellent cameo for Maryborough Rovers in their victory against Harcourt last season.

For Talbot, the opportunity to grow and continue to push for improved competitiveness is the clear goal after improving from no wins in 2022 to two wins in 2023.

It was a terrific season, all told, for the Hawks, who were able to avoid the wooden spoon and the increased competitiveness has been something that new coach Eleisha Phelps has been pushing throughout the off-season.

With another year together, the Hawks will now be hoping they can start genuinely pushing for results against teams who are in the bottom reaches of the eight, having succeeded in games against Campbells Creek and Newstead.

While the Hawks are still a very young outfit, they have certainly benefitted from Phelps’ arrival, who has previously won A grade premierships with Learmonth in the Central Highlands league, as well as representing the league’s interleague squad as captain.

The Hawks lost their last game of the season by 28 goals to Royal Park in round 16 last year on what was an emotional day for the latter, but they’ll be hoping for a closer clash this time around.

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