Sport
5 August, 2025
Talbot Hawks land decisive victory over Navarre
Talbot put on a show in the second half to win comfortably against the Navarre Grasshoppers by 73 points.
The Hawks showed no signs of any leg weariness from the heavy conditions in round 15, dominating in the second half with 11 straight goals before the Grasshoppers could get on the scoreboard at the 16-minute mark of the final term.
Navarre, coming off the bye the week before, were only two goals behind at half time, and looked to provide a tough contest in the second half.
The Grasshoppers had all of the play in the first five minutes of the third term, but couldn’t break through on the scoreboard.
From this point in the game, it was Zac Cicchini who set the ball rolling for Talbot, goaling from the Hawks’ first forward entry of the third quarter.
That opened the floodgates for Talbot with six individual goal kickers in the third term, including a great goal from Lachlan Hind, who attempted a high-flying mark, but spilled the ball only to gather it and kick truly.
Talbot led at the final change by 54 points.
At the three-quarter time address, Navarre coach Kyle Hendy asked his players to stick to their opponents in the final term, but it was a difficult task, as the Hawks were running rampant, led by Jamieson House, who was in everything.
The Hawks kicked the first three goals through Jude McGuire, Jayden Hind, and House, before Navarre finally broke through for successive goals through Oliver Notting and Riley Bibby, for the Grasshoppers’ only scores of the second half.
Jarrod Stephens managed to break away late in the game from Jayden Fowkes and kicked his fourth goal in the dying stages.
It was an entertaining contest between the star forward and the key defender, and it got a bit heated in the early part of the game, but Talbot showed they have plenty of other avenues to goal, sharing the goalkicking amongst 10 individual players.
Talbot named House as their best player, along with Charles Aitken, McGuire, Kirk Lang, Zac Cicchini and Lachlan Hind.
It was a tough day for Navarre, but Jayden Fowkes was given the nod as their best player.
Others who played well were Notting, Angus Bade, Daniel Reading, Jack Mentha and Zak Varley.
