DAVE: Welcome gents to another huge weekend of sport and Jonty, we are in the presence of greatness, with our gun photographer Stewart Chambers filling in for Marcus, who is off sick this morning but showing great commitment to keep tapping away at home. Welcome Stew.
STEWIE: Nice to be here Davo.
JONTY: He’s a more than handy fill in.
DAVE: He sure is Jonty.
STEWIE: I’m the Super-Sub.
DAVE: Jonty, kick off this special ‘Stewie’ edition with the best action you saw on the weekend.
JONTY: I was thinking about this half-way through the third quarter at Murrumbeena Park, when Doveton had only kicked one goal. But luckily I watched the Dandenong Stingrays this week and Cooper Hynes, on a wet and soggy Saturday night at Frankston, picks it up – coming off five goals last week – gets through the pack, bursts through congestion, and nails it from 30 out. He stood up in the absence of some players who played for Vic Country. Stewie, what was your best action or best photo from the weekend.
STEWIE: I was walking around the ground at Warragul and saw Tex (Luke Walker) was about to kick the ball out and thought “I’m in a good spot here”, because the wind was going across the ground, and I just had time to change lenses. I took the big one off and put the little one on and then saw a pack forming, and thought “you little beauty, I’ll get a good shot here”, and Tate Short jumps up and takes a strong grab, right in front of me. I thought beauty; I can head off to Garfield now.
DAVE: You got the gun shot and you were on your way.
STEWIE: Exactly.
DAVE: Speaking of Tate Short, he’s taking the WGFNC by storm, he’s an absolute gun Stewie.
STEWIE: He has to be…he wears number three.
DAVE: Leigh Matthews the best number three?
STEWIE: No way, Marto, my son, he wears number three.
JONTY: Here we go, that might be the first, but the not the last bit of nepotism in LTS today.
DAVE: We’ll get to that later Jonty, but first my best action came from Warragul Industrials speed-machine Matt Herbert. It was late in the second quarter and Herbert took off from half back, had four bounces and found Kane Taylor inside 50, who put the Dusties in front of Inverloch just before half time. It was about the first time all year we’ve seen the Inverloch defence out-positioned, and it was Herbert who did the damage. That’s how you beat Inverloch, but how many players can run and carry like Matt Herbert…he gets my vote for best action this week.
THIRD TEST SUMMARY
DAVE: The Poms have fought back and won the third test by three wickets. Jonty give us your summary of another cracking contest.
JONTY: I think the turning point was when Todd Murphy dropped Ben Stokes for about 45, caught and bowled. At that stage we still had a strong advantage in the first innings, but Stokes brings it back to 26 runs and from that point forward it felt like England had the upper hand. Warner went cheaply again, Travis Head tried to bat with the tail, but ultimately, he didn’t have enough help and we’re probably 30 or 40 runs short…that we would have had if Murphy had held that catch.
DAVE: What about you Stew…catch much of it?
STEWIE: Yeah, a bit of it…thank god for Mitch Marsh, he batted well, but it’s hard to watch from an Aussie point of view when Ben Stokes starts belting the ball everywhere. It was like watching Kane Hawkins at Officer.
DAVE: Yep, he goes off as well. You talk about Murphy’s dropped catch Jonty, well Joe Root dropped a soda off Marsh in the slips, when he was on 12, and he went on to make 118. We might have been bowled out for bugger all in the first innings if that one stuck. I’ve been a bit of a critic of Baz-Ball, but Marsh, Stokes, Head and Harry Brook were the players to make runs and they all did so aggressively. It was just one of those pitches where no-one ever really looked in. And Jonty, how good was it to see Mark Wood steaming in and bowling express pace?
JONTY: I know he knocked over Usman Khawaja, and the Australian tail collapsed, but there’s nothing better than watching someone steaming in and cartwheeling the stumps at over 150 clicks. He’s so quick through the air and would be so scary to face. One for you Dave before we move on. Mitch Marsh and Cam Green. You can’t drop Mitch Marsh, so do you bring Cam Green in or leave him out.
DAVE: I heard some commentary the other night that Australia has been praying for an all-rounder for 20 years…and now we have two, and very similar types. I think one of the bowlers – Boland and Hazelwood – might be in trouble. Play the two all-rounders, particularly the way Wood rolled through the tail. That might provide a bit more resistance down there.
STEWIE: What about Warner, is he safe for the next test?
JONTY: No, I don’t think so.
DAVE: It’s just like taking candy off a baby for Stuart Broad…and has been for a long time. We still talk about Darryl Cullinan being Shane Warne’s bunny, well this is even worse! What happens from here Stew, with the Aussies 2-1 up?
STEWIE: What’s the pitch like at Old Trafford?
DAVE: 22 yards long, that’s all we know at the minute mate.
JONTY: My gut feeling tells me 3-2 to Australia.
SUPER NETBALL GRAND FINAL
DAVE: Stewie, your primary role this Monday morning is to give us a summary of the Super Netball Grand Final from the weekend. You love your netball don’t you mate?
STEWIE: I sure do Dave, and this was a ripper, a sell out at John Cain Arena between the Sydney Swifts and Adelaide Thunderbirds. It was even bigger than the Inverloch and Bunyip grand final from last year…
DAVE: Wow…that’s big…
STEWIE: It was one for the ages Dave, there were bodies hitting the court everywhere and the Swifties were short-priced to win it, even though they hadn’t beaten the Thunderbirds all year. It had everything, it went into extra time and the T-Birds got across the line. Rooey (Kooweerup Coach Rhys Nisbet) would have loved this, Eleanor Cardwell from the Thunderbirds dropped the F-Bomb twice, live on TV, during a passionate rev-up at the last huddle of the game. One of the commentators said “This grand final pressure is eating every player on court alive,” and she was spot on, the umpires even had to tell the players to calm down. It was just unrelenting…they were crashing into each other everywhere. The coach of the T-Birds wanted Cardwell to shoot normally, for one goal, but she nails a Super Shot worth two and they end up winning by one…it was hugely entertaining and a great way to finish the season.
DAVE: Who’s your team Stew and why?
STEWIE: The Giants…I do like the colour orange, and one of my favourite players is Amy Parmenter, she sure has a go and may take over from Ash Brazill in WD in the future for the Diamonds.
JONTY: How did Matilda Garrett go?
STEWIE: Good point Jonty, because the standouts were T-Birds defenders Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson, they were outstanding in defence, shutting down the Swifts goalers. Garrett did start the game on one of not the best GA’s in the world in Helen Housby and did a good job.
JONTY: The reason I ask about Matilda Garrett Stew is that she is a Narre and Cranbourne junior, tell us a bit more about her.
STEWIE: It’s pretty hard for her to get a regular gig, with Sterling and Wilson in front of her, but she has made the Diamonds squad…
JONTY: Correct, a bit of a surprise inclusion.
DAVE: Connected to the famous Garrett family from Cranbourne Jonty?
JONTY: She’s the daughter of Paddy Garrett, who was front and centre at Cranbourne’s 1993 premiership reunion a couple of weeks back. Deflections, intercepts, rebounds…that’s what she builds her game on.
DAVE: Sounds like there’s a story brewing there!
JONTY: Stay tuned readers, that’s all I can say.
SAM KERR
DAVE: Boys, while on women’s sport, the Soccer World Cup starts next Thursday with Australia playing on home soil, drawn in a pool with Ireland, Canada and Nigeria. Jonty, Sam Kerr is the face of the team, where does she rank as far as Australian female sportspeople right now?
JONTY: I thought initially top three, but thinking about it, she’s clearly our number-one female sportsperson right now. She is the emblem of female soccer in this country. Speak to the casual football fan, people on the street, and not many would know many players outside of Sam Kerr…she’s put female football on the map in this country. They’ve been successful as a team, but she’s been the face of it and she’s a world-class player. Ariarne Titmus is probably next best in swimming, but she doesn’t carry the same public profile as what Sam Kerr does. Cate Campbell, Ash Barty, the Australian cricket team, but Sam Kerr is number one.
STEWIE: She’s probably the best, male or female.
DAVE: Yep. Just imagine if Australia wins the soccer World Cup on home soil. Sam Kerr would join Cathy Freeman, Betty Cuthbert and others in that realm that deliver a moment that is spoken about forever. This could be huge boys. Stewie, you’re out and about taking snaps of local female sportspeople every week, who are the ones who stand out for you?
STEWIE: My favourite two are probably Kelsey Buxton from IK, she’s glides through the air and has a really strong workrate, and Alana McRae…if you’re setting up a political party, she would be Minister for Defence.
DAVE: Yes…Stewie’s brought his own gags this week…Jonty?
JONTY: I’m going to give you four girls that I think are a good chance of making the AFLW over the next two years. The first two are first-round draft prospects this year…Meg Robertson has established herself as a player who can get 25 touches a week through the midfield, and Mikayla Williamson’s athleticism is really good, and she’s also put herself on the map from the Stingrays. Elli Symonds and Ash Centra for next year. Symonds is a good bottom-age ruck/key position player, and the things she can do are just amazing. She’ll grab it out of the ruck and run from centre clearance and kick it inside 50, and Ash Centra has so much flair to her game off half back. There’s been hype around her since was about 14.
DAVE: Great summary mate, very thorough as usual. My local female stars are Laetisha Scanlan from Berwick, she’s off to the Shooting World Championships in August, and I’m with you Stew, Kelsey Buxton is an absolute jet down at IK. And there’s a girl called Chloe that I want to mention Jonty…Chloe…Papley, who played at Bunyip last year.
JONTY: Relation to Tom?
DAVE: Sister. Her battles with Kelsey Buxton last year were enormous and very competitive.
JONTY: Hang on…it would be ignorant not to mention the Chloe that you really want to talk about…your daughter Chloe, captain of the Pakenham Women’s side, she’s been in the best every week you keep telling us.
DAVE: Yeah, that was a good segue from me, she’s had a good month of footy Jonty, let’s just keep it at that.
JONTY: Her strengths in a sentence?
DAVE: Strong and well organised around the contest, and doesn’t let the opposition get the ball out, loves to get in amongst it and tackle, and she’s very competitive.
STEWIE: She doesn’t take after you then Dave.
DAVE: Everyone says she gets it from her mother…and after that Stew…you’re not invited back next week mate. Marcus will be back on board! Take care boys and we’ll see you next week.
