IT was an unusual day at Norm Minns Oval.
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Sure, the result, an easy 90-point victory for Wangaratta, was pretty straightforward and various other certainties also came into fruition.
Did Corowa-Rutherglen cop another early, crucial injury? Yep, ruckman Nick Whiterod went down early in the second quarter.
Did Jamie Allan chase cricket score stats? Check.
Was Tyler Bonat looking surly all day? Of course (does he ever smile?).
But in between all those regular features, it was a peculiar afternoon.
The first quarter was a highly entertaining affair, for reasons good and bad.
For the most part, endeavour could not be questioned — for all their deficiencies, it must be said neither Corowa-Rutherglen nor the Magpies are known for shirking the contest — but silky skills were not the order of the day.
The wind, a two- or three-goal breeze to the city end, was largely responsible for a lot of the farcical disposal and comic marking attempts, but it could not be blamed for some of the odd decisions made by all three parties on the field in that first 30 minutes.
The tone was set early in the piece when Roos defender Kade Kuschert took a brave, saving mark 20 metres out from Wangaratta’s goal.
Kuschert then inexplicably played on while encircled by three Magpie forwards who swiftly tackled the Roo and caused the turnover which allowed Luke Mullins to score the opening goal of the day.
The quarter was littered with such instances; Wangaratta made some baffling decisions from its kick-outs and Dale Whelan was somehow not paid a potential mark-of-the-year contender.
Nonetheless, it made for engrossing viewing because Wangaratta couldn’t make the most of its breeze and the Roos even hit the lead late in the quarter when Cade Mills and Dave Clark swung through consecutive goals.
It was only five seconds before the quarter-time siren that Wangaratta regained the lead thanks to a nice goal from youngster Justin Mitrevski.
The Roos had reason to feel happy with their efforts and supporters were encouraged by the prospect of using the wind in the second term.
But Wangaratta, quite suddenly, clicked into gear into the breeze.
Class was always going to shine on a day like this and Dale Whelan provided it.
The tall forward, a much more imposing figure since shaking his early-season injuries, booted four of the Magpies’ seven goals for the term, while all the Roos could manage was four behinds.
Jamie and Robbie Allan collecting disposals at will and using the ball with more nous than most on the field.
Little changed after half-time; Matt Witherden moved to Whelan and kept him to one goal but midfielders Brendan Liddell, Daine Porter and Jamie Allan took every opportunity to surge forward and all got goals, of which the Pies added five.
Corowa-Rutherglen only managed two behinds.
The Roos offered greater resistance in the final term and kicked three of the last four goals to avoid a three-figure defeat.
While Jamie Allan racked up 54 disposals and Whelan was terrific, it was the lesser lights such as Mitrevski, Jo Doyle and first-gamers Aaron Cheong and Michael Bordignon who impressed coach Judd Porter.
“It was good to see guys like (Cheong and Bordignon) come into the side and fit with the structures we’ve got in place,” Porter said.
