Venue: Eureka Stadium
Conditions: Partly cloudy, 17 degrees, surprising lack of wind in Ballarat
In action:
- Liam Anthony (24 disposals, 7 marks, 5 tackles)
- Trent Dumont (20 disposals, 11 tackles)
- Joel Tippett (11 disposals)
- Eric Wallace (8 disposals, 28 hit-outs)
- Max Warren (12 disposals)
- Mitch Wilkins (15 disposals)
NMFC.com.au’s best: Joel Tippett, Trent Dumont, Eric Wallace
Key match-ups
1. Tippett v Tom Lee
2. Anthony v Maverick Weller
3. Wallace v Billy Longer/Jason Holmes
Story of the game
Playing its first home game of the year, North Ballarat started off well. It led Sandringham by four points at quarter-time, but it was the second quarter that proved decisive.
Conceding eight goals to one, the Roosters fell into a 40-point hole at the long break. Although they battled manfully in the second half, the margin proved too much and they eventually succumbed by 35 points.
Points of interest
1. Joel Tippett bounced back from a quiet game against Essendon to curtail Sandringham’s Tom Lee. Holding the St Kilda-listed forward goalless despite his side going down by 35 points, he came in for high praise from development manager Ben Dyer.
“Lee only got off the chain when Tippo was off the ground. He completely shut him out of the game.
“He took away Lee’s space with some proactive positioning and some great spoils when looking vulnerable in the contest.
“He can still work on his offensive game, but he did manage to collect 11 touches.” – Development Manager Ben Dyer
2. One of the prime midfielders in the VFL, Liam Anthony was sent a hard tag in the form of Saint Maverick Weller. After a seven-possession first half, Anthony burst into action.
“To his credit he really turned things around after a slow start. He was the architect of the Roosters’ revival in the third quarter. They cut the margin to 19 points and LA was involved in a lot of the good things the side did.
“He had 17 possessions in the second half to end with 24 for the game and he also laid five tackles as well which was pleasing.” – Ben Dyer
3. Eric Wallace notched his second solid performance against an AFL-listed ruckman. Playing against Billy Longer, Wallace was good again, but he may have had some extra motivation.
Backing Longer up in the ruck was another American convert in Jason Holmes. Wallace took the points when the duo faced each other in their few contests.
“Eric was terrific again today rucking 90 per cent of the game against Longer who’s a top 10 pick.
“Importantly Eric’s starting to show something around the ground which is the next step in his game. He took five marks and none of them were cheap, uncontested ones.
“When he comes off the ground now, North Ballarat miss him which says a lot about how his development is tracking.” – Ben Dyer
4. Trent Dumont continued his development in his first season with another solid performance. Able to consistently win the ball, Dumont notched up another 20 possessions at Eureka Stadium. Perhaps more impressively, he laid a team-high 11 tackles.
“His game was underpinned by a willingness to run hard both offensively and defensively. When we were battling against the flow he competed very hard inside and his body use at stoppages was very good.” – Ben Dyer
After Dumont’s game against Essendon last week, he was forthright in admitting he had to improve his kicking.
In a show of his willingness to work hard to improve, his kicking efficiency was at 73 per cent on Saturday, a number higher than most on the field.
Most likely call-up: Joel Tippett
Next week: Geelong - Simonds Stadium, April 27 at 12pm
