By Tyler Lewis
These Bulls are special.
While it would’ve entered Saturday’s Eastern Football Netball League (EFNL) stand-alone clash with Balwyn as the punter’s favourite, Noble Park delivered far beyond expectation.
After already leading at the first change, it was a second stanza onslaught that steered the Bulls to the 12.9 (81) to 7.9 (51) victory.
Noble Park fired off six majors to one in the second term to stroll into the main break with a 57-15 buffer.
Though the Bulls were terrific in the first term – booting three goals to one – the second term was mesmeric with the way the Bulls rode the wave of momentum.
The enchanting 30 minutes of football certainly didn’t escape the very happy eyes of coach Steve Hughes.
“Our pressure around the contest went up a notch I thought,” he said.
“I thought it was okay at quarter-time, it was interesting, it was something we honed in on at quarter-time – we thought our pressure at the source was strong, but that referred pressure was leaky.
“We put pressure on the ball carrier, but they fed it outside and we hadn’t numbered off well.
“That really increased in the second quarter, we didn’t let them breathe.
“I think that was the main thing, our pressure around the contest increased a little bit and we were good enough to hit the scoreboard from it.
“The second quarter was excellent, no complaints from me.”
The second quarter training drill was driven by Jackson Sketcher, who finished the game with 37 disposals and a goal, but most likely racked up 25 of those possessions – and the goal – before half-time.
“He is pretty explosive isn’t he,” Hughes laughed.
“He is hard to stop when he’s got a bit of momentum. We have a good inside-outside balance with the likes of Hodgey (Chris Horton-Milne) and Marto (Kyle Martin) winning that inside footy and Jackson on the outside.
“He was terrific, particularly after missing three weeks… that was his first game in a month.”
While Sketcher was the most glamorous player on the ground at half-time, the votes for an unassumingly dominant four-quarter display have to be sent the way of key-defender Ryan Morrison.
Morrison played on well-known key-forward Jordan Lisle and was truly sensational, not only defensively – restricting Lisle to just four kicks – but offensively, gathering an exceptional 34 disposals himself.
“Oh, what wasn’t,” Hughes said in response to “What was the most pleasing part of Morrison’s performance?”
“He’s just got his game together really, his balance between defence and offence… he doesn’t just spoil balls, he kills them.
“His body strength is terrific one on one, and then he kick starts our offence, uses the ball really well.
“Also, his leadership behind the ball, we’re hearing barking from him setting up our press and doing the little things well, he is having a terrific season.
“It’s a position you play where if you’re a little bit off, opponents can kill you quickly.
“He is playing on the best forward every week, but what are we, eight rounds in, and he has won every battle.
“Hopefully that continues, he has been excellent.”
Though the Bulls’ 42-point half-time lead was trimmed to 30 by the final siren, Hughes isn’t taking much out of the second half, modestly admitting that an expectation of winning all four quarters against a side like Balwyn would be greedy.
“I wasn’t flat, you have to put things into perspective,” he said.
“We weren’t playing an ordinary football side, we were playing a very good side, you’re not going to have it all your own way for the entire game.
“There were elements of the way we played that I wasn’t over the moon about, but we had done our work early so of course you are going to get a response from a side that are going to be there at the pointy end of the year.
“They have a terrific coach and all that, we would’ve liked to extend the lead, but so be it… I will take that any day of the week.”
Though Noble Park has now launched into second position on the ladder, it’s spot will be in jeopardy if it suffers defeat this week against South Croydon.
And while Hughes is confident the Bulls season begins now, he is looking for little ‘mathematical’ milestones to drive the group.
“We’ve got South Croydon this week, if we lose again we lose second spot,” he said.
“It doesn’t get any easier, we play again this week for second spot and we just have to be head down bum up for the next few weeks for us.
“What we can do in maybe a month’s time is mathematically tick off a final. I know the top six may look set, but that’s something of a goal you can set for your group.
“I’d have to do the math, but if we were to win 3 or 4 of our next 4 or 5, I would say we would probably be locked in, then you can set yourself for further things down the track.
“Head down, bum up, focus on our brand, we can get better every week.”
The win places the Bulls just percentage ahead of this week’s opponent South Croydon in second position.
NOBLE PARK 3.2 9.3 11.4 12.9 (81)
BALWYN 1.0 2.3 5.6 7.9 (51)
Noble Park Goals: B. Marson 4, S. Allan 2, J. Francis 2, J. Beech, J. Sketcher, K. Byers, L. Nelson.
Best Players: S. Allan, R. Morrison, K. Martin, B. Marson, Z. Alwan, J. Sketcher.
Balwyn Goals: C. Haley 2, J. Lisle, C. Andersen, T. Wilson, Y. Jaffer-Williams, N. Oakes.
Best Players: B. Smith, N. Oakes, Y. Jaffer-Williams, C. Andersen, T. McCaffrey, L. McDermott.
EFNL PREMIER LADDER
TEAM W L Pts %
Rowville7 1 28 127.76
Noble Park6 2 24 145.81
South Croydon6 2 24 115.25
Balwyn5 3 20 151.98
Doncaster East5 3 20 126.07
Vermont5 3 20 98.25
Blackburn3 4 14 85.17
Park Orchards3 5 12 107
Norwood3 5 12 97.32
Doncaster3 5 12 64.89
Berwick 1 6 6 76.91
North Ringwood0 8 0 46.89
FIXTURE – ROUND 9
South Croydon v Noble Park
Berwick v Rowville
Norwood v North Ringwood
Doncaster v Park Orchards
Vermont v Blackburn
Doncaster East v Balwyn
