Match result: North Ballarat 14.10.94 defeated Coburg 7.10.52
Venue: Eureka Stadium
Conditions: Cold and windy
In action:
- Trent Dumont (24 disposals, 9 clearances, 4 inside 50’s)
- Brad McKenzie (21 disposals, 14 contested, 4 marks)
- Aaron Black (12 disposals, 7 marks)
- Aaron Mullett (18 disposals, 9 marks)
- Braydon Preuss (9 disposals, 25 hit-outs)
- Joel Tippett (23 disposals, 11 marks)
- Max Warren (20 disposals, 7 marks)
- Daniel Wells (16 disposals) – did not play last quarter
NMFC.com.au's best:
Trent Dumont, Joel Tippett
Story of the game:
It was the end of an era for the Roosters as Gerard FitzGerald coached his last game.
North Ballarat was quick out of the blocks, kicking four goals to one in the first term.
“They (the Roosters) had real control of it early,” Development Manager Ben Dyer said.
“They were winning clearances and things were going well.”
Coburg hit back though, gaining ascendency through the middle and reducing the margin to four points at the main break.
Enter Trent Dumont; the young Kangaroo had a big impact around the ball after playing as a forward early.
“They put him inside late in the second quarter and from that point the Roosters completely reversed it again and got right on top.
“They smashed Coburg in the third quarter (six goals to one), then just really denied them in the last.
“It was a pretty ordinary quarter as the rain set in, and they just maintained their lead.”
The 32-point victory was North Ballarat’s fifth in a row, leaving it just short of a finals campaign. FitzGerald’s tenure, which included three premierships, was celebrated in the rooms after the game.
Points of interest:
1. Dumont staked his claim for a call-up with a strong performance.
“We are still trying to get him that time as a mid-forward coming up to the stoppages to work on that part of his game,” Dyer said.
“He did that really well. He was causing havoc, tackling and spinning forward after that.
“When they lost control inside they just had to get him back in and he was huge. He had nine clearances and really got his hands dirty and won the ball.”
2. Brad McKenzie has been in a rich vein of form in recent weeks, so much so that Coburg responded by assigning him a tagger.
“It was recognition for the last five or six weeks. Obviously teams are having a look at Roosters’ games and understanding that he’s influencing the game inside and out,” Dyer said.
“The boys helped him out a fair bit with a few chop-outs here and there, but he was sort of forced to get on the move and really go hunt the ball.
“They probably curtailed him a little bit on the outside because that’s easier to do if you put a good runner on someone, but I thought the fact he just won a lot more contested ball was really good for him.”
3. Joel Tippett continues to do everything right at VFL level, this week shutting down highly-rated forward Lech Featherstone.
“Tippo just really nullified him like he’s done to a few good opponents recently,” Dyer said.
“They looked up with the footy and his opponent was just never an option because he positions so well and spoiled so well.
“On the turnover he was just off and gone. He had 22 or 23 touches and kicked it well. It was a really good game.”
4. Daniel Wells showed some good signs in his third match back, finishing with 16 disposals, but unfortunately his day was cut short.
“When he played inside particularly early he looked pretty sharp with his hands,” Dyer said.
“When he went forward he was pretty sharp. He was leading up and he created a couple of goals which was good.”
Wells came from the ground in the third quarter with an injury to his left leg. Initial reports were that it was a calf-related issue, but the club will need to determine the specifics after scans during the week.
5. Saturday’s match marked the end of an eight-year alignment between North Melbourne and North Ballarat.
Dyer said the Roosters had played a vital role in the progress of North's emerging players.
“Particularly someone like a Max Warren who has now played there for the best part of four years… four years at a footy club is a fair chuck of time.
“He’s well respected there (at the Roosters) because he’s really important to them and treated them the right way.
“After the game Fitzy (FitzGerald) spoke about the last eight years and how it’s been mutually beneficial. It’s been really good for both parties and really helped with the development of our young guys.”
Most likely call-up: Trent Dumont
