By Tyler Lewis
A virtuoso performance from Lachie Wynd has inspired Rowville to its sixth successive win.
The Box Hill-listed forward booted five goals in the Hawks Eastern Football Netball League (EFNL) top of the table clash with Doncaster East.
Goals in three of the four quarters and a collection of high-marks from Wynd has left Hawks coach Ben Wise beyond impressed after his sides 13.15 (93) to 11.10 (76) win.
But though he was captivated by his forwards enchanting five goal haul, Wise admitted there was a sense of frustration before Wynd’s performance.
“He’s been at Box Hill, working hard on the track and he has been carry over emergency a couple times and then been back with us, but hasn’t trained with us – he wouldn’t have trained with us six to eight weeks,” Wise said.
“He’s been a little bit frustrated and lacked a bit of synergy with the team, getting in good spots but not clunking what he should.
“We spoke about sticking to our guns and said keeping work hard, it’ll crack open at one stage.
“I didn’t know who they were going to go with match-up wise.
“I said ‘if they make Simon White go to you, it’s going to be a good challenge, if he wants to sit in front just keep launching at the footy’.
“I thought he was brilliant.”
With a light frame and overwhelming potential, Wynd is far from finished terrorising defenders.
But with all the fundamentals conquered, Wise isn’t putting a ceiling on what Wynd can achieve.
“Last year it was the first year he started to grow into his body a bit, he is still really lightly framed,” he said.
“He hasn’t gone through the (Eastern) Ranges, he always just played local footy and he is a super talent, but he hasn’t done the elite gym stuff consistently.
“For him to go into that level and understand the dedication you have to have, he is growing and learning, but if he has 12-18 months really putting time into his body, getting stronger.
“As you can see he reads the game well, is a great mark and is a great kick, work rate is high, he has all the attributes… the sky is the limit for him.”
The Hawks have captured wins in their first six appearances and have Park Orchards, Doncaster and Berwick in its sights over the next three weeks.
An under-manned and youthful Noble Park finished its clash with Blackburn with plenty of fuel left in the tank.
The Bulls were without experienced and lively trio Kyle Martin, Jackson Sketcher and Ziggy Alwan, but it came without cost as Steve Hughes’ men fired eight goals to three in the third term to set up the 14.11 (95) to 12.12 (84) victory.
A response from Noble Park was expected, after conceding that dreaded triple-figure score last week against Doncaster East.
“I think East Doncaster have proven to be a high-quality side, they’re right at the pointy end I would’ve thought,” Hughes said of the side that booted a century against him last week.
“To be honest I thought they thoroughly deserved their win. I didn’t think we played awful footy, we were just a bit off with our technique and were giving silly free kicks away.
“We fought back well and had a good win on Saturday, we never like to be scored against heavily, but I thought East Doncaster played a really high brand of footy – so credit to them.”
With what Hughes described as ‘at least 450 games of senior experience’ missing from his side, he looked to the future.
“We had a couple of debutants, it’s a pretty young group playing at the moment,” he said.
“It was important that we hung in and continued to improve, I was really pleased with the win to be honest.
“Blackburn not so much season on the line, but obviously with their win and loss ratio, they became pretty hungry.
“Box Hill had a bye so they had a couple of really good inclusions, we responded really well and our third quarter was the best for the game.
“It was pleasing that we didn’t have any passengers on the weekend, because we couldn’t afford to.”
