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Sport

8 April, 2024

Talbot takes a thriller by a point to open up MCDFNL season over brave Maryborough Giants

Perhaps the closest game of the 2024 Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League (MCDFNL) football season will be the very first game, with the B.A Road Services Talbot Hawks taking a one-point victory in a dramatic game of swings and...

By Michael Thompson

Maryborough Giants’ Jack Broad takes flight to open up the second quarter in the ruck, earning a free kick from this ruck contest.
Maryborough Giants’ Jack Broad takes flight to open up the second quarter in the ruck, earning a free kick from this ruck contest.

Perhaps the closest game of the 2024 Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League (MCDFNL) football season will be the very first game, with the B.A Road Services Talbot Hawks taking a one-point victory in a dramatic game of swings and round-abouts over Maryborough Giants at Hedges Oval.\

It was a day of celebration for both clubs in a sense.

For the Giants, it was a successful debut, despite the result, showing that they won’t be a pushover throughout the season, and the masses responded with their feet, with a good crowd packing in to get their first glimpse of the new team.

For the Hawks, it was a rare chance to give themselves the opportunity to earn the respect of the MCDFNL public — this was their first standalone game since the 2018 semi-final, and they were determined to make the most of it.

Early on, it was the Hawks that did all the running, with their transition play earning plaudits from the outset. Alex Marshall kicked the first goal of the season, scoring from 20 metres out on a slight angle to get the Hawks on the board.

New recruit Rhys Egan — returning to the ground after spending many years at his boyhood club, Royal Park — was in the thick of everything early, and he was able to set up Lachlan Griffiths for their second goal.

The Giants were quite nervous early on, and it was obvious that they were in need of a settler, and they were able to deliver, with Jacob Rollason earning a free kick for holding the ball in the goal square, before converting and going down in history as the first goal scorer for the club.

However, Talbot continued to do some good work when punishing the Giants’ ball use going inside 50, and earned a second goal in transition when Jack Tuohy slotted through the Hawks’ third of the quarter.

The Giants hit back immediately, with playing-coach Damian Cupido setting up new recruit Talbot Varcoe for his first goal with the club.

Jayson Atkins gave Talbot a nine-point quarter time lead with their fourth goal of the quarter, and at quarter time, it had appeared that the Hawks were looking good.

But breaks have a funny way of disrupting rhythm, and it worked to perfection for the Giants, and the new club got into gear as the second quarter started.

Some good work from Karson Guareschi, who punched the ball forward, helped set up Mitch Whelan to kick a goal from a flying snap, before Whelan added another one after taking a good chest mark.

Cody Wright was adding plenty in the middle for the Giants, as was Lachlan Bates.

But Talbot have a habit of hitting back right when they needed to, and it was Egan again who provided another important score involvement after setting up Darcy Osborne, allowing the Hawks to lead by three points at the long break.

The Giants again had much of the play in the third quarter, but there was the added caveat of them kicking seven consecutive behinds.

Chris Scragg finally ended the run with a good set shot goal, but they only held on to the lead for a matter of minutes, with Adam Scott hitting back for Talbot with a clever snap in congestion.

The Giants would have the lead going into the last break, however, with Murray Bond’s soccer off the ground allowing them to lead by six points.

Talbot weren’t about to roll over, however, and kicked the first two goals of the last through the reliable hands of Scott and Luke Kemp to give them a five-point lead.

The Giants needed a hero, and it appeared Guareschi was the man for the moment.

He bobbed up with two incredible goals as the game approached red time in the final term, with a classic opportunists goal to put the Giants up by a point, before adding another freakish goal a minute later to leave the new club’s supporters in a frenzy.

That didn’t bother the Hawks, or more specifically, Jayson Atkins.

Atkins turned his opponent inside out and put the Hawks back into the game with a classy running goal, with Scott adding a behind to tie the scores.

Atkins had the last say, adding the winning behind, although an element of controversy was narrowly avoided, with the siren initially going unheard by the umpires as the Giants launched towards goal.

Egan was the best man on the ground for the Hawks, setting up a number of scores for Talbot with his excellent ball use, and he was joined by fellow new recruit Dylan Page, while Marshall, Trent Severino, Jude McGuire and Kemp were also among the best.

For the Giants, Wright was terrific, while Michael Epworth, Whelan, Bates, Matt Walker and Kieran Johns also added plenty.

Talbot coach Phil Crouch said while it was an error-riddled game, he was relieved to just get the four points on the board.

“It’s good. It gives us a bit of momentum and a bit of belief. We’ve spoken about trying to get a bit of respect around the league. Hopefully we’ve earned a bit of that, not just with the win, but how we played. It was a mistake-riddled game, so there’s a lot of things we need to polish up on,” he said.

“We spoke a lot before the game about effort — I’m an effort-based coach, and I have a thing called the 22/100/100, which is 22 blokes giving 100 percent effort, 100 percent of the time.

“You never totally achieve it, but we spoke about it at every break to remind them, no matter what the state of the game, to keep cracking in, keep giving effort, more often than not, it will turn your way.

“You need a lot of luck as well, a lot of people underestimate the bounce of the footy, there’s so many things that can go that can change the momentum.”

Crouch praised the Giants for their excellent start to life in the MCDFNL, noting the hard work they had undertaken to successfully merge Royal Park and Maryborough Rovers.

“One thing I want to mention — the Giants, to put together a new footy club from scratch, and all the stuff they’ve done, they were sensational and it could have easily gone the other way,” he said.

“I spoke to Damian [Cupido] after the game and I said he should be proud of the way they played and they have so much to build on as well. They’ll be disappointed like we would have been.”

Crouch was impressed by the Hawks’ willingness to take the game on, saying it was another step to what he wants to build at the club after focusing on the defensive aspect in his first year in charge in 2023.

“To be honest, when I came on last year to the club, I wanted to make it accountable, so we played a game plan that was more one on one and a bit more defensive-minded to start with, to get a few things in place defensively, and the way we wanted to play at the contest,” he said.

“This year, we’ve deliberately spoken about wanting to enjoy our footy, being a more energetic team and taking it on. So we have done a fair bit in pre-season, and knowing that, we’ll make a lot of mistakes.

“People will ask why we take certain kicks, but we’re doing that because we think it’ll pay off for us. I want us to take it on, and I think we did that.”

While Crouch acknowledged that the Hawks were under the pump for a large majority of the middle two quarters, he also praised that defensive work ethic which didn’t allow the game to go away from the Hawks.

“There’s two sides to that, one could be the Giants not taking their opportunities, but the other thing is — and I’m proud of it — is we put enough pressure on to force harder shots and put them under enough pressure,” he said.

Crouch added that such standalone games for the Hawks were hard to come by, and he wanted to repay the faith for the club’s supporters by earning more respect for the club from the MCDFNL public.

“One of the reasons I got back into footy last year was to come to a club that I knew was heart and soul, and I love country footy, which is a great aspect of it,” he said.

“It’s about the parents, the supporters, the juniors, netballers and everything — and this club has it in spades. The club has always had so much passion, and once you have it, you have to harness it and cut off a few rough edges, and things just get better.

“From our first training session in November, we’ve been talking about it, so from our pre-season training, which can be monotonous at times, we’ve been keeping it in the back of our minds.

“We had a thing in our rooms, with a word of respect. It’s about respecting our opposition, the game of footy, and each other, but it’s also trying to earn respect around the league.

“It’s not just through the result, it’s about the way we conduct ourselves — the way we barrack, the way we behave towards umpires, the whole thing that is footy and respect, we’re working on a lot of areas so people can see we’re heading towards the right direction with that.

“We have a way to go, and that’s always at the forefront for us.”

Crouch, and his Hawks, will now focus on Avoca in round two in two weeks’ time, and he says while starting with two straight wins would be a huge bonus, he can’t take the Bulldogs lightly.

“The corresponding game last year, it was only a kick, and I have no doubt it’ll be the same again — I think it’s the way the boys roll, and it certainly gives the supporters a run for their money,” he said.

“With Avoca, we can’t take anything for granted. As long as we give our effort and work on a couple of things over the next couple of weeks, we have to keep improving, and if we can get to 2-0, that would be terrific. So, we’ll be pushing for that.”

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