It really has come to the "pointy" end of the home and away season, where very quickly thirteen teams will become six, and just what and how that half dozen might look is still to be determined.
All that said, sometimes the results pale into insignificance when the health of a player is front and centre of all of Mid Gippsland's thoughts.
The Thorpdale and Toora match was abandoned after coach Jason Winderlich was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital.
Thorpdale v Toora
There has been, and will be no room to move for Thorpdale both on the weekend and in the weeks ahead, the Blues, a game and percentage behind sixth placed MDU,must keep winning, hope for the Demons to drop a game and still cross their fingers to steal a spot in the finals.
The first step of success was taken by taking care of Toora,.....then out of nowhere none of that mattered.
Toora 3-4-22 to Thorpdale 2-3-15, the match abandoned before half time, a significant injury concern to champion Jason Winderlich requiring a chopper flight from the Blue's home ground to Alfred hospital.
Ray Pickering, Blue's co-coach, "Jason has a neck fracture, he had surgery that night to insert a plate, went well,"
The thoughts of all within the league with Winderlich.
Jack Weston, Toora coach “Life is bigger than football, my thoughts are with Jason, his family, and the wider Thorpdale Football Netball Club. As a club we all hope for a positive outcome and are sending all our love his way.”
Jason Kennedy, Tarwin coach “not good fingers crossed everything works out ok and his recovery goes smoothly”
Chris Verboon, Stony Creek coach “Shocking news about Jason after the game. Wishing him all the best.”
Hill End FNC “Our thoughts are with Jason and his family and the Thorpdale FNC and we wish him our best in his recovery.”
Jarrad Walker, Fish Creek. Coach “Our first thoughts are with Jas, his family and the thorpdale community. We will look to support in any way we can and hope he comes out okay”
were but a few from the many clubs and supporters that reached out to Thorpdale, Jason, and his team mates.
The abandonment of the match prior to half time, meant the premiership points were shared, the result of which also meant the Blues would fall short of finals for season 2024, and no one at Thorpdale cared, their thoughts with coach Jason Winderlich, as were the thoughts of the entire MGFNL community.
Morwell East v Yinnar
In what loomed as possibly a season defining clash, these two top of the tables sides met with a guaranteed top three finish on offer for the victor.
The ladder leading Hawks, with a healthy number of past players and local community behind their backs had the opportunity to really apply pressure to the visiting Magpies and in doing so gain a psychological advantage ahead of a potential finals meeting.
Sometimes things do not go as planned, the visitors winning a thriller, Yinnar 10-13-73 to Morwell East 10-9-69.
Paul Henry, Morwell East coach “We wanted to have the finals feel this week in the big home game against Yinnar. We had Kevin Sheedy speak to the players in the change rooms pregame. Great experience for all. It was a final feeling, Yinnar got the chocolates this time.
They say, you only ever lose if you don't learn, and the Hawks will only need to have learnt a little to flip the story if they get another chance at the Magpies, who have managed to find a way to win tight games more times than not.
Sam McCulloch, Yinnar coach “It was a seesawing encounter in which the wind played a factor to one end. We started well in the first quarter but didn’t fully capitalise on our shots on goal. Morwell east worked back into it in the second and we went in with a small lead. The boys really lifted in the 3rd quarter and put a handy buffer on the scoreboard. Morwell East came hard in the last but we held on to secure the 4 points. Looking forward to the bye this week to rest up some sore bodies.
The Magpies sit second on the MGFNL ladder, a perfect position from which to launch another assault on a premiership, a destination that coach McCulloch and his team will be very comfortable with.
Fish Creek v Boolarra
Fish Creek as premiership favourites have been and continue to quietly go about their business, doing what needs to be done to be in the ideal position from which to launch a defence of last season's grand final success.
The Kangaroos have been good, but their best is no doubt yet to be shown as they accounted for Boolarra in workmanlike fashion on the weekend.
The Kangaroos 15-11-101 to Boolarra 5-6-36.
Jarrad Walker, Fish Creek coach “Ended up being a good win on the weekend, but took a couple of quarters to get going. Our defence really improved in the second half which was good. Credit to Boolarra, they moved the ball really well and tested our defence all day. Pleased with the response after half time and good to get some momentum going for the end of the year.”
For Fish Creek, it was just more of the same, doing what they needed to do, responding according to the opposition, the Kangaroo's efforts impressive, as were that of the Demons.
Brendan Mason, Boolarra coach “Tough day yesterday played some good footy and challenged them for three quarters. But in the end they showed why they are the best team in the competition and ran over the top."
Fish Creek sit atop the table, a spot they are likely to keep, until they attempt to be the first club to go back to back since Mirboo North a decade ago.
Mirboo North v Hill End
While more than half the competition are surging towards finals, there are clubs that saw round sixteen as their most important of the year.
Mirboo North and Hill End have had little to celebrate during the course of 2024, but the weekend provided a rare opportunity for one club to celebrate a season of hard work.
The Tigers celebrated a twenty eight point win over the Rovers, 8-6-54 to 3-8-26.
Damian Turner, Mirboo North coach “Really pleasing day. As expected, Hillend were looking to bounce back and they cracked in all day. Dry, fast conditions in the first half, then it poured rain at half time and became a abit of a different game. Really happy with the way we adjusted to the conditions, played four quarters of footy and moved the ball. Nice to get another win. Bye this week before Fish Creek at home to close out the season.”
The Tigers put another win away, but as described didn't have everything their own way, responding to the Rover's intensity and slowly arresting control of the game and giving further confidence to their long term goal to slowly claw their way back up the ladder in the years ahead.
Ambu Uliando, Hill End coach “We started off the first quarter firing on all cylinders. Couldn't maintain that intensity for the rest of the game. Credit to Mirboo North they came up big when it mattered."
Hill End face MDU and Tarwin in the last two rounds of the home and away season and would be more than satisfied to grab just one more victory to close off what has been a tough year.
Tarwin v Stony Creek
These two teams had shown patches of form that would warrant them being a part of the upcoming MGFNL finals, however for various reasons, that opportunity had slipped through fingers and what was on offer now, was another "w" to bank and believe that there can be better days ahead.
Tarwin secured the victory by just three points, 8-11-59 to Stony Creek 7-14-56.
Jason Kennedy, Tarwin coach “It was a great competitive game throughout the match with both teams playing in good spirit. Stony Creek was just ahead of us all game but we knew that if we stayed within a goal or two we would give ourselves a chance to finish strong. In the last quarter we did just that. We took our chances, lifted our intensity and in the end we came away as three point winners. It’s great to get the win at home. We had a fantastic spread and all twenty one players contributed.
It was the Sharks that deservingly finished on the right side of what has been just one of many very close finishes during the course of the season.
Their opponents, well, it was yet another that fell the wrong way, one of too many that could well have changed their fortunes in the right circumstances.
Chris Verboon, Stony Creek coach “Disappointing for us to throw away the lead we had in the last quarter. We just haven’t been able to close out games.
The Lions will perhaps get their best and last chance to secure a win when they face Boolarra in round seventeen, but no doubt the Demons will have something to say about that.
Bye: Foster, MDU, Newborough
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