THE popular BULN BULN utility Dean Burnell has announced his retirement. Burnell, who turns 44 in October, had a stellar career locally. He was a star defender in the VFA with DANDENONG and FRANKSTON, where he racked up more than 150 senior games before stints at KILCUNDA-BASS where he was captain-coach. More recently he was a premiership player at BEACONSFIELD and then, two years back, he opted to help out good mate Daniel Charles at BULN BULN.
WORK this out – has there ever been a more unusual run of results than this? In round 15, flag favourites GARFIELD beat KOOWEERUP, which, many punters agreed at the time was the weakest team in the competition, by 103 points. Then only two weeks later, in round 17, Kooweerup somehow regrouped and upset POOWONG by 36 points. In round 19 on Saturday, Poowong defied the huge odds to upset Garfield. And all these results occurred inside the past month. Simply beyond belief. In betting terms, the odds of these three results would surely have been set at 500-1.
WITH finals teams searching for that extra bit impetus, a few forgotten players across both local leagues caught the eye on the weekend – and may have a big say in the fortunes of their teams over he next month. First, hard-at-the-ball CORA LYNN midfielder Jay Piggin, who made a big impression early in the season after being recruited from SPRINGVALE DISTRICTS but has missed the past 15 rounds with a succession of hamstring injuries, returned on Saturday and starred with a best-on-ground performance in the reserves. And at NEERIM NEERIM SOUTH, Robbie Gillespie, an agile 20-year-old centre-half-forward, returned to the club from MACKAY just before the 30 June transfer deadline and made a big impression on Saturday against KOOWEERUP.
AND in the GIPPSLAND league, former DROUIN star Adam Cook, who played plenty of good football in the VFL at WILLIAMSTOWN and was a star in the Ovens and Murray Football League with WODONGA RAIDERS, where he earned VCFL representation last year, returned to the Hawks on Saturday and kicked four goals.
CORA LYNN, which a few weeks ago pulled out of the race to host finals because of the condition of its ground, presented a near picture-perfect playing surface on the weekend. The ground had been harrowed, rolled and pampered in recent weeks. The Cobras have hosted finals and grand finals from what seems to be the year dot.
NAR NAR GOON, GARFIELD and BUNYIP will take more than a passing interest in the performance of all their grades on Saturday. The EDFL club championship is set to go down to the wire and the above clubs are still in the hunt as we enter the final home-and-away game.
THE NARRE WARREN under-18s team is statistically the best under-age team in Victoria. The undefeated Magpies have the most points for (1689), the least points against (213) and the best percentage of any under-18s team in the top 10 major leagues in the state. The team’s percentage (792.96) is significantly higher than the next best team, Bendigo Football League’s SANDHURST (451.34). Even more impressive is that it hasn’t fielded its best team, because of players representing the Dandenong Stingrays (six in total) or being promoted to the seniors.
DEVON MEADOWS is unsure if it will be able to use Glover Reserve next year. While comfortably settling into E. G. Allen Reserve this year, the Panthers are keen to return to their home digs next year. The surface of Glover Reserve is undergoing major works, which was to occur last summer. But the delay has forced the club to consider its options next year.
THE report of NARRE WARREN goalkicking midfielder Aaron McIver left the crowd at Toomuc Reserve perplexed. McIver was reported in the opening quarter of the PAKENHAM clash and sent from the field. “It’s a bit of a joke, to be honest,” NARRE WARREN coach Chris Toner said. “He’s hip and shouldered Luke Walker. They offered him two weeks. I spoke to Aaron and he’s adamant that that’s all it was. It was right in front of the umpire, so he wouldn’t do something silly.” Play was halted for several minutes as the goal umpire sought out the central umpire to inform him of the report. “You’ve got to wait for a stop in play – which was when the next goal was scored – and it took a couple of minutes,” Toner said. “For him to be sent off for 15 minutes makes (the win) a little bit better.”
KEYSBOROUGH will remain in the Casey Cardinia league, according to Brad Canavan, who will step down as senior coach at the end of the season. “They’re staying,” Canavan said. “I spoke with (Keysborough president) Clay Cullen and he asked if I was concerned about the fact that we were going to the Southern league and I said not really. In the end, the players don’t want to go to the Southern, they want to play the best footy they can, even if they cop a few hidings here and there. The club decided to stick it out and try to improve.”
CANAVAN’s time at KEYSBOROUGH has been testing, with the seniors plagued by injuries. “I brought the Canavan injury curse to the Keysy footy club,” he said. “I had a shoulder reconstruction and a bad ankle when I played. It’s just been absolutely ridiculous.” The Burras’ hefty injury list includes ex-Collingwood and Richmond rover Clinton King and classy playmaker Matt Freeman, who haven’t played all season. Defender Will Gayfer, the versatile Travis Skidmore, fullback John McMurray and big man Karl Schoenmaekers have all missed prolonged chunks of the season. Injuries also derailed Keysborough’s 2010 campaign after the team won its opening four matches.
NARRE WARREN ruckman Matt Olney broke through the 300-senior game milestone in round nine when the Magpies played Doveton. The ruckman, dubbed “Ned” after the bushranger for his woolly beard, quietly achieved the impressive achievement with little fanfare. Throughout his career Olney has played with the Northern Jets (in Wagga), Griffith, Barooga, Berrigan and the Southern District Crocs (in Darwin). In the pre-season, Olney was heavily pursued by DEVON MEADOWS and was nearly signed before Chris Toner lured him across to Fox Road. Olney played under Toner in the 2009 NILMA DARNUM premiership, the first pennant at the club in 50 years. “He’s been around, but he is still only 31,” Toner said. “He has played some really good footy for us and especially going towards finals, he’s going to play a real big role.”
