By Tyler Lewis
The scene.
26 minutes have ticked over in the second term and Shayne Allan has just kicked Noble Park 40 points clear of Rowville.
The aftermath of the Allan goal results in Kieren Byers taking another shot, from point-blank range, to put the Bulls 46 up with Hawk Kyle Stainthorpe earning a 15-minute stint on the pine.
The game…well it was over.
However there was one problem… someone forgot to tell Rowville.
The Hawks then rallied to kick 12 of the next 15 goals.
And astonishingly, after kicking two minor scores with its first two scoring shots of the day, Rowville went on to kick 16.2 in front of goal, including 11 straight after half-time.
Hawks coach Ben Wise can laugh about it now, but was adamant things couldn’t become worse from that particular moment late in the second quarter.
“Yeah you just have to take a breath… we couldn’t do anything worse,” he laughed.
“We had to reshuffle a little bit, regain some composure and just get to half time, we had to try and reset a little bit.
“We had some forced changes; Tommy Lockman went down with a knee, to be honest I was watching and I just thought ‘we have so much more to give’.
“We were still in the contest; we just had to get our hands on the footy because when we went forward we scored.
“Stainy getting sent off was a pain in the arse, but he got elbowed behind play five minutes before that so I knew it was coming, you sort of expect those things I guess.”
Despite being so far out of the match, Wise stated he never once gave in, nor will he ever concede.
“It never even crossed my mind,” he revealed.
“I always felt we were in the game, that’s just a credit to the group, the belief and the mindset we have.
“I didn’t even look at the score, until I was watching the replay last night, I didn’t realise we were 46 points down.
“It didn’t feel like that, live during the game, it felt four to six goals maybe, but I always felt that if we got two quick ones we were right back in it.
“You have to have that (belief) all the time, as soon as you as a coach concede… if I show that I am accepting that, then the boys will too.”
Lachie McDonald has been superb this season, so much so, a non-selection in the Team of the Year would be a travesty.
And Saturday was the stars masterpiece, 30 plus possessions, three goals, including – most importantly – the winner, which didn’t look like missing off the boot.
“It was high, I am invested emotionally, I ride with the boys and get caught up in it at times,” Wise said of the emotion of McDonald’s kick.
“I am just so rapt for Lach to be in that position, I knew he would execute, he’s a beautiful set shot for goal.
“You put him with a set within 50 and he very rarely misses, he is a great set shot for goal and we practice it a lot.
“I am happy for him to have that moment in his career where he gets to go back and do that, he’s such a special talent, special player, and a great leader of our footy club.
“You know… that win is one of our best we have had in our history in Premier Division and he’s going to go down as a pivotal part in why we sealed the deal – that is a good feather in his cap.”
On the flip side of the unbelievable game of footy, the Bulls lost the unlosable.
Noble Park coach Steve Hughes is confident he knows where it went wrong, as the small things swiftly became big things.
“Well I think it was a combination of reasons,” he explained.
“It’s common with us, I don’t know, there may have been just a bit of a feeling – not necessarily amongst the entire group – but maybe amongst a few, that we had it done at half-time.
“We put the cue in the rack a little bit; if you do that with an hour left in the game against quality opposition… these things can happen.
“It’s one that got away… definitively.”
While Hughes admitted coaching never quite has its cruise-control moments, he disclosed the panic-meter begun to work overtime in the third term.
“From a coaching perspective you’re always on edge, no matter what the score is to be honest,” he said.
“I think there was signals mid-way through the third quarter, there was a combination of things that happened in the third quarter – I thought our work-rate defensively in transition wasn’t there.
“We can see that pretty clearly from up above… and then just an inability to spoil some of those aerial balls down back.”
A notable tick from the Bulls perspective in the opening half was the sheer dominance at the stoppages, particularly the centre-bounces.
Hughes wasn’t fully buying a stoppage drop off in the second half, instead recalling Rowville’s cleanliness with the footy – predominantly in front of goal – while also trying to draw upon a positive from the heart-breaking loss.
“We still won a number of stoppages in the second half,” he said.
“It’s not like they blitzed us or anything like that, they changed personnel that worked well for them and they were really clean with their ball use, they got more dividend with their disposal than we did.
“They were pretty sharp with their shooting on goal too… yeah… it was just one of those days I guess.
“It’s frustrating, our entire group is flat after that game, but if you try to take a positive out of it, it was one v two and we lost the game by three points, which means we’re in it, that’s what I am going to try and take away from it.
“We are capable, but we’ve got to learn.”
Without much envy from those who were in the Noble Park rooms on Saturday afternoon, Hughes had the task of addressing his players.
“On purpose, I didn’t say much,” he said of his post-game message.
“You get a little bit emotional when you have that margin and you could probably say a few things you will regret, I have probably been guilty of that in the past.
“I just took a deep breath and said we’d look at it during the week, no one is trying to lose these games.
“Our players work really hard, I am always proud of them, but we’ve just got to learn some lessons I think.
“I think I said ‘I was flabbergasted, see-ya Tuesday night’… but we’ll get back on the horse.”
A good percentage has kept the Bulls inside the top two, but they will now have to win the final two matches of the year to secure a second-chance finish, and another date with Rowville in a months’ time.
Other results: Balwyn 10.8 (68) defeated Doncaster East 7.3 (45); South Croydon 11.16 (82) defeated Vermont 7.3 (45) and Park Orchards 7.10 (52) were defeated by Norwood 18.15 (123).
See page 27 of the Football Lift Out to see the unique race in which North Ringwood and Berwick are currently in.
GOAL BY GOAL TIMELINE
TIME PLAYER (CLUB) MARGIN
FIRST QUARTER
08.36 C Horton-Milne (Noble Park) Bulls by 4
14.40 B Marson (Noble Park) Bulls by 9
17.20 J Marson (Noble Park) Bulls by 18
19.33 L McDonnell (Noble Park) Bulls by 24
24.20 J Arundell (Rowville) Bulls by 19
25.30 J Stern (Noble Park) Bulls by 25
End of quarter: Noble Park 5.4 (34) to Rowville 1.2 (8).
SECOND QUARTER
07.38 L McDonald (Rowville) Bulls by 21
10.39 B Marson (Noble Park) Bulls by 27
15.19 A Zijai (Rowville) Bulls by 21
18.42 K Martin (Noble Park) Bulls by 28
19.59 B Marson (Noble Park) Bulls by 34
22.53 N Wood (Rowville) Bulls by 28
25.36 K Byers (Noble Park) Bulls by 34
26.37 S Allan (Noble Park) Bulls by 40
28.04 K Byers (Noble Park) Bulls by 46
31.20 M Seedsman (Rowville) Bulls by 39
End of quarter: Noble Park 11.7 (73) to Rowville 5.4 (34).
THIRD QUARTER
03.19 M Davey (Rowville) Bulls by 33
06.23 J Coleclough (Rowville) Bulls by 28
07.34 J Beech (Noble Park) Bulls by 34
09.45 S Allan (Noble Park) Bulls by 41
16.30 J Coleclough (Rowville) Bulls by 36
22.25 L McDonald (Rowville) Bulls by 31
26.02 M Seedsman (Rowville) Bulls by 25
27.35 M Taylor (Rowville) Bulls by 19
End of quarter: Noble Park 13.11 (89) to Rowville 11.4 (70).
FOURTH QUARTER
03.01 K Young (Rowville) Bulls by 13
10.17 M Taylor (Rowville) Bulls by 8
11.21 M Taylor (Rowville) Bulls by 2
15.01 K Young (Rowville) Hawks by 4
17.21 L Bull (Noble Park) Bulls by 2
25.21 L McDonald (Rowville) Hawks by 3
End of game: Noble Park 14.13 (97) to Rowville 16.4 (100).
LADDER
TEAM W L % Pts
Rowville 14 2 141.72 56
Noble Park 12 4 143.98 48
Balwyn 12 4 142.91 48
Doncaster East 11 5 135.71 44
South Croydon 11 5 129.62 44
Blackburn 7 8 88.09 30
Norwood 7 9 102.09 28
Vermont 6 10 82.3 24
Park Orchards 5 11 93.04 20
Doncaster 5 11 67.78 20
Berwick 3 12 65.04 14
North Ringwood 2 14 51.46 8
FIXTURE
Round 17
Rowville v Berwick
North Ringwood v Noble Park
Norwood v Doncaster East
Park Orchards v Blackburn
South Croydon v Doncaster
Balwyn v Vermont
