Sport
18 August, 2022
Exciting goalkicking showdown set to come down to last round of MCDFNL season
Making the feat more incredible, Brewster travels a great distance to get to Natte’s games on a Saturday afternoon with his young family, showing great commitment to the Swans’ cause of defending their 2019 premiership. “I live in Berwick, so...
In the midst of an exciting finish to the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League (MCDFNL) season lies a fantastic battle between Natte Bealiba’s Danny Brewster and Trentham’s Jake Keogh on the goalkicking list.
For Brewster, he achieved a career-long dream of kicking 100 goals in a season for the first time in a storied career which has taken him through Warragul Industrials, Noosa in Queensland’s premier division, Neerim Neerim South, Elmore and, as recently as last season, Narre South Saints.
While he’s previously come closest with Noosa, kicking 88 goals in 2011, there was a sense of relief when he popped through goal number 100 for the 2022 season last Saturday afternoon in the last quarter of Natte Bealiba’s game against Royal Park.
“It was surreal to be honest. It was something that I’ve dreamt of doing for a long time. I’ve gone close a couple of times but I never had the chance to get it done. It was nervewracking with the pressure of the kids lined up on the fence waiting for it to happen, but when it did, it was an unreal feeling and amazing they could all jump out and get around. To celebrate with the boys was really touching, too,” Brewster said.
Making the feat more incredible, Brewster travels a great distance to get to Natte’s games on a Saturday afternoon with his young family, showing great commitment to the Swans’ cause of defending their 2019 premiership.
“I live in Berwick, so I drive up from there, and I played locally at Narre South last year when my young son was born, so I liked to stay closer to home then,” he said.
“I’ve loved the move back out to country footy again, and Natte Bealiba has been really welcoming, a family-oriented club, and have been great for my partner and son.”
Brewster says the league has been fantastic this season, and cannot wait for the Swans’ finals campaign to start.
“It’s a credit to the guys behind the scenes who recruit and keep the boys together. We’ve put ourselves in a position to really have a red-hot crack at it. It’s different to other competitions I have played, where the top five are that close together, it comes down to who gets the ball rolling and play their style of footy for the longest,” he said.
“It seems every team has one or two forwards who can take a game apart, and it comes down to a battle of the midfield. We have some very talented people through there, and an attacking half-back line who can use the ball really well. If we get our ball movement the way we want it, the likes of myself and Will Holt benefit and it makes our job a lot easier.”
In the meantime, Keogh has spearheaded Trentham’s push to minor premiers this season, having progressed through juniors to break through into senior football over the last five years, and it’s easy to say he has had a career-best season, with his 99 goals easily surpassing his previous best goal tally of 69 in 2019.
However, Keogh chooses to be humble about his achievements this year, as he looks to join Brewster as a centurion tomorrow against Talbot.
“Our midfielders have been able to play really well to get the ball to me. There hasn’t been too much more to it, I’ve been lucky I suppose,” he said.
“We’ve also been able to play better as a team and we’ve had more opportunities to score goals as a result.”
Keogh kicked 10 goals last week against Newstead, but feels he could have kicked more. However, with Trentham hosting a 130-year celebration and 30-year premiership reunion for their 1992 team, alongside Keogh looking to mark his best season with his century, it could very well be a truly special day for the Saints tomorrow.
“I kicked my 10th goal after the final siren last week, but I missed a few easier chances earlier, so I could have had it against Newstead,” he said.
“It’s been an awesome year so far, hopefully we can finish it off with a premiership.”
Keogh shed some light on the Saints’ ascension to the team that will take the 2022 minor premiership in what is a very even season between the top five contenders.
“We are bonding very well, we are young, great mates, and got our injuries out of the way early on, so we’re all coming in to finals raring to go,” he said.
Should Keogh kick his 100th goal for the season tomorrow afternoon, it would leave the MCDFNL as one of just three leagues across Victoria to boast two centurions, with the Millewa Football
Netball League and Kyabram and District Football Netball League also achieving the feat in 2022.
The exciting conclusion to the MCDFNL season sees Brewster and his Swans travel to Campbells Creek tomorrow — a team which Brewster was able to kick 16 goals against in their round three meeting, while Keogh will look to improve upon his five-goal haul against the Hawks from the Saints’ round three encounter.