BRENDAN Fevola might have kicked nine goals but it was Yarrawonga’s defence which had the Pigeons hierarchy most excited after Sunday’s 98-point victory over Wangaratta Rovers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Led by returning premiership star Marcus McMillan and recruits Tom Walliss and Rhys O'Sullivan, the Pigeons’ back half never gave the Hawks a sniff in the 23.8 (146) to 6.12 (48) win.
The Rovers started brightly when co-coach Sam Carpenter kicked the first goal of the game but that’s where it ended for the Hawks as Yarrawonga peeled off the next 13 majors – led predominantly from their drive out of defence.
The former Carlton champion booted seven of his nine goals in the second and third terms with the highlight coming just before the final change when he kicked his eighth from the boundary line and high-fived a handful of young Pigeons fans.
Brad O’Connor, who will relish having the goal-square to himself again, and exciting youngster Jess Koopman also made the most of it by kicking four goals each as the Pigeons showed they have plenty of tricks up their sleeve in attack with Fevola bound for Deer Park.
“It’s been a great day for our footy club,” Yarrawonga co-coach Chris Kennedy said.
“The most pleasing thing, besides Fev, is we think we’ve got a very good defence.
“We still think we’ve got scoring options but you need to have a really strong defence and seeing Tommy Wallis, Rhys O’Sullivan and Marcus McMillan down there today was a real positive thing for me.
“With the three of them, there’s a lot of experience and I was rapt with what they were able to cut off.
“Rovers are a side that run hard and chip and run and they’re probably a bit more advanced in their preparation than us because we’ve never been really big on real heavy pre-seasons.”
Dylan Wilson, Shane Gaston, Dylan Stone and Carpenter never stopped trying for the Rovers.
“Our young blokes will learn from that today,” Hawks co-coach Andy Hill said.
“Yarra’s got some big bodies and I think they will be a quality side again.
“A lot of your attacking plays come from the backline and they’ve got some really good players down there.
“We’re trying to get some sort of play like that in our game.”
