SHOULDERING ON
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Wodonga teenager Nick English couldn’t tackle or pick up the footy, but showed tremendous courage to play on with a shoulder complaint in Saturday’s win over North Albury.
The Bulldogs already had Dylan Beattie (broken thumb) and Brett Doswell (calf) ruled out, with Ryan Pendlebury (cork) and English forced to rotate for a full complement.
“Young Nick English, he was really brave,” coach Dean Harding said.
“He kept rolling back on just to give us some forward pressure.”
English missed three months with a broken arm last year and then sprained the AC joint in his shoulder, wiping out the season.
He had played mostly reserves this year until he injured his ‘good’ shoulder.
“My injury wasn’t a complete break or going to be a complete write-off, I could move it a little bit, I just couldn’t pick up the footy or tackle with it,” he said.
STICKING SOLID
It was a win for persistence when Cody Hewat debuted against the Hoppers.
Hewat had played 80 games in the lower grades, 47 in reserves and 33 in the thirds.
“He’s stuck it out and he didn’t take the easy option,” Harding said.
“He hit the scoreboard and set some (goals) up and then went back and defended really well.”
NOT AGAIN
Myrtleford’s Tom McDonagh has had a horror run since his Top End stint with the Tiwi Bombers.
“I’ve been getting these boil-type infections that grow under my skin,” he said.
“I’ve been in hospital probably four or five times on a drip getting them cut out of my leg.
“The doctors think it’s a sort of staph infection that’s immune to drugs, so it’s something I could be dealing with for quite some time.
“It’s very, very painful.”
The high-leaping ruckman’s bad run continued when he suffered a knock to the leg and was forced to miss the second half against Wangaratta.
MELLINGTON MAGIC
Josh Mellington landed a goal of the year contender against Wangaratta Rovers.
“Josh snapped an unkickable goal on the boundary,” co-coach Joel Mackie said.
“He turned his bloke inside out and went boundary side with a banana.
“I couldn’t see it going in and I don’t know how he split the middle.”
Mellington kicked 9.1 in the 90-point win.
The Tigers other co-coach Shaun Daly grabbed a 40-plus possession game, while some of the Hawks’ youngsters should take plenty from the match after a typical workaholic performance from Daniel Cross.
Albury could have Sam Schulz, Luke Packer and Ben Dower available for the top of the table clash against Wangaratta on Saturday.