Brodie Newman stars as Calder Cannons beat Geelong Falcons in NAB League thriller

Calder captain Brodie Newman has announced himself as a potential star of the future with a commanding performance in the Cannons’ thrilling NAB League win over Geelong Falcons.

Ned Gentile celebrates one of his three goals.

Young defender Brodie Newman has announced himself as a potential star of the future with a commanding performance in Calder Cannons’ seven-point win over Geelong Falcons on Saturday.

The Cannons captain was colossal at full-back, collecting 34 disposals, 16 marks and three tackles as Calder claimed its second win of the NAB League season, 8.11 (59) to 8.4 (52).

The Aberfeldie junior is a member of the AFL Academy and looms as a key member of Vic Metro’s national championships squad.

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Cannons coach Ross Smith rated it one of the best performances he’d witnessed in the under-18 competition.

“It was one of the best I’ve seen, just totally dominant,” he said.

“You don’t expect your full-back to have 34 disposals and mark the ball from opposition entries a dozen times. His positioning and ability to read the play was exceptional.”

Mason Fletcher takes a courageous pack mark.

Tye Browning marks in front of Lachlan Hood.

Vice-captain Daniel Mott (25 disposals, six tackles), Ned Gentile (21 disposals, three goals), Max Simpson (19 disposals, 12 marks, 1 goal) and Sam Ramsay (28 disposals, eight marks) also impressed.

It didn’t look promising after a slow start saw the home team kick 0.4 in the opening term but Smith took plenty of positives.

“We were actually pretty happy with the way we were playing,” he said.

“It was a funny one but there were some really good signs … we just didn’t have a lot of success.”

The Cannons started to get on top in the second quarter, kicking 4.5 and hitting the lead at half-time, but Smith wasn’t satisfied with the third quarter.

Chris Seymour marks in front of Max Simpson.

The Cannons started to get on top in the second quarter, kicking 4.5 and hitting the lead at half-time, but Smith wasn’t satisfied with the third quarter.

“I think the boys were up and about at half-time and pleased with what they’d produced in the second quarter and maybe got a little ahead of themselves,” he said.

“We spoke to them after the game about learning from that … to their credit, I gave them a bit of a touch up at three-quarter time, they got back to winning contested ball and were pretty dominant in the last quarter.”

The Falcons were within a point nearing full time but Jacob Martin sealed the win with his second goal.

The Cannons will look to keep their winning form going when they meet Bendigo Pioneers on Saturday.

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