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CLUB by club review of the 2017 Loddon Valley league season.
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1st – CALIVIL UNITED
Record – 17-2, 179%
Avg. for/against – 109/61
Quarters won – 59 of 76
Comparison to last year –
+5 wins, +25 points per game improvement
(attack: +15, defence: +10)
• Club best top three:
Chris Down – 57
Matt Magee – 40
Bryce Curnow – 38
Based on weekly best players: 6 points for best, 5 for second best and so on.
• Top goalkickers:
Bryce Curnow – 86
Vinny Rodi – 46
Ben Knight, Luke
Marchesi – 27
The team that brought Bridgewater’s reign of dominance to an end by winning its first premiership since 2008 last weekend.
The 34-point grand final win over the Mean Machine came on the back of a home and away season in which the Demons finished four games clear on top of the ladder.
The only team the Demons lost to was Bridgewater twice, while they ranked No.1 for both attack and defence.
As well as the premiership, the Demons had captain Ben Knight win the Harding Medal and Bryce Curnow as the competition’s leading goalkicker with 86.
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2nd – BRIDGEWATER
Record – 13-6, 129%
Avg. for/against – 91/70
Quarters won – 40 of 76
Comparison to last year –
-5 wins, -65 points
(attack: -45, defence: -20)
• Club best top three:
Xavier Henderson – 50
Alex Collins – 43
Zeb Broadbent – 39
• Top goalkickers:
Alex Collins – 76
Ben Galea – 21
Liam Jacques – 16
After seven-straight premierships the Mean Machine had to settle for runners-up.
Averaged 45 points less and conceded 20 more points per game in comparison to last year as they dropped back to the pack.
In hindsight that was evident from day one when they lost to last year’s wooden-spooner, Bears Lagoon-Serpentine, at home to kickstart a season of unpredictability.
Had a heavy reliance up forward on Alex Collins (76 goals), while down the other end, Xavier Henderson had a breakout season in defence.
Full credit to Bridgewater winning seven on the trot, but it was refreshing for the league to finally see a new team, Calivil United, on the premiership stage last week.
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3rd – NEWBRIDGE
Record – 12-7, 108%
Avg. for/against – 78/72
Quarters won – 40 of 76
Comparison to last year –
+5 wins, +14 points
(attack: +5, defence: +9)
• Club best top three:
Tyler Romeril – 78
Jordan Gilboy – 68
Brad Comer – 54
• Top goalkickers:
Sam Kennedy – 30
Edward Coulthard – 29
Chris Dixon – 26
Best finish for the Maroons since they were beaten in the 2012 grand final.
The two teams that finished above them – Calivil United and Bridgewater – both had key forwards kick at least 76 goals, whereas the Maroons didn’t have that same dominant presence inside 50.
Midfielder Jordan Gilboy capped a fine season by finishing second in the Harding Medal, while ruckman Tyler Romeril figured among their best in 16 of 19 games.
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4th – MITIAMO
Record – 10-8, 130%
Avg. for/against – 84/64
Quarters won – 40 of 72
Comparison to last year –
-5 wins, -1 points
(attack: -13, defence: +12)
• Club best top three:
Luke Scott – 47
Terry Reeves – 42
Jarryd Wiegard – 38
• Top goalkickers:
Justin Maddern – 69
Kyle Patten – 17
Brayden Baines – 17
The beaten grand finalist of the past two years was unable to get past the second week of the finals this season.
But even that had been a battle just to get that far given the Superoos were plagued by inconsistency and two weeks out from the finals were outside the top five.
Tried to be less dependent on star forward Justin Maddern and that was the case early in the year, but by the end of the season he had kicked 31.7 per cent – the highest in the competition – of the Superoos’ goals.
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5th – BEARS LAGOON-
Record – 9-8, 111%
Avg. for/against – 86/77
Quarters won – 37 of 68
Comparison to last year –
+9 wins, +76 points
(attack: +34, defence: +42)
• Club best top three:
Nick Arthur – 49
Josh Walsh – 34
Harry Gadsden – 32
• Top goalkickers:
James Rippingale – 39
Rhys Deacon – 29
Andrew Gladman – 18
What a remarkable revival by the Bears where simply winning one game would have been an improvement on last year after going through 2016 winless.
Instead, they won nine – including beating reigning premier Bridgewater in round one – made the finals and going into the last round still had the chance to finish third, but they missed out and were ultimately bundled out in the elimination final.
I’ll admit I had the Bears penciled in for the wooden spoon again at the start of the year. That certainly won’t be happening come next year, though.
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6th – PYRAMID HILL
Record – 8-8, 124%
Avg. for/against – 94/75
Quarters won – 38 of 64
Comparison to last year –
Same wins, +27 points
(attack: +16, defence: +11)
• Club best tallies:
Billy Micevski – 51
Gavin James – 40
Steven Gunther – 32
• Top goalkickers:
Joe McGrath – 51
Billy Micevski – 30
Nathan Fitzpatrick – 20
For the first time since 2003 the Bulldogs were onlookers in the finals.
In terms of their average score for and against, the Bulldogs had stronger numbers in comparison to last year, yet after losing their first two games they spent the bulk of the season chasing their tail and only spent four rounds inside the top five.
Ultimately had their finals destiny in their own hands when they had to beat Calivil United in the final game of the season, but they were beaten by 21 points.
Good sign for the future of the club was their under-18s winning the premiership.
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7th – MARONG
Record – 5-11, 71%
Avg. for/against – 69/97
Quarters won – 21 of 64
Comparison to last year –
-3 wins, -21 points
(attack: -11, defence: -10)
• Club best tallies:
Jarrod Fitzpatrick – 55
Bryce Franzini – 34
Aaron Bateson – 27
• Top goalkickers:
Ryan Wellington – 32
Jarrod Fitzpatrick – 25
Callum Williamson – 13
After winning just one of their first 10 games, the Panthers looked like they would be in a fight to avoid the wooden spoon.
However, by the end of the season they were playing like a finals side, winning four of their last six games, which included wins over Mitiamo – albeit in a shortened match – Newbridge and Bridgewater, who all finished in the top five.
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8th – MAIDEN GULLY
Record – 3-13, 58%
Avg. for/against – 61/105
Quarters won – 19 of 64
Comparison to last year –
-2 wins, -9 points
(attack: +3, defence: -12)
• Club best tallies:
Brayden Aitken – 40
Elijah Naylor – 36
Jordan Crisp – 32
• Top goalkickers:
Natnael McLaren – 21
Brayden Aitken – 19
Luke Gray – 19
Start of a new era as the Maiden Gully YCW Eagles based at Marist College, but a familiar result, finishing eighth for the third year in a row, although, this time with two wins less than last season.
Inability to penetrate the scoreboard was highlighted by Natnael McLaren winning their goalkicking with just 21 – the only Eagle in the past three years to kick more than 20.
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9th – INGLEWOOD
Record – 1-15, 44%
Avg. for/against – 55/124
Quarters won – 11 of 64
Comparison to last year –
-4 wins, -46 points
(attack: -19, defence: -27)
• Club best tallies:
Shane Harris – 45
Brandon Worner – 35
Ben Conley – 27
• Top goalkickers:
Shane Harris – 36
Ryan McNish – 15
Ben O’Sullivan – 9
Looked to be finally heading back in the right direction last year when they won five games – their most since 2010.
But it was back to that all-too-familiar position at the bottom of the ladder with just one win, while the season ended with five losses by at least 100 points in their last seven games.
Used the most players in the competition with 42.
