EDFL: Greenvale young guns, debutant shine in season first win

Greenvale is on the board in 2025 after an impressive win over Pascoe Vale with coach Darren Bewick hailing the impact of a pair of young guns, a club debutant and the Jets’ leaders.

Reuben Rode made his debut on Saturday.

Greenvale coach Darren Bewick couldn’t be happier with the output of his leadership group and rising stars as the Jets broke their 2025 duck on the weekend.

On Saturday, Bewick’s side overcame last year’s grand finalist Pascoe Vale by five points.

Young recruit Kieran Gallagher, who joined the club from Westmeadows in the summer, was best afield while emerging ruckman Riley Leedham produced his best game for his new club.

There was also a debut for Reuben Rode, a former VFL player with Essendon.

“Really pleased with how the young guys went about it,” Bewick said.

“Kieran is only 18 and put together a really strong game. Riley had the opportunity to be the number one ruckman against Matthew Dennis, who we all know has an outstanding resume.

“It got him into the game early and he competed well. For an 18-year-old to hold their own really helped to set us up.

“Reuben is a welcome addition to the side. He’s got good speed and generally makes good decisions with the footy.”

Skipper Kurtis Sanajko was also among the better players with Bewick lauding his performance.

“We were led by the skipper,” he said.

“I was really pleased with how the leadership group led our response after a pretty disappointing performance against Deer Park in the last game.

“We just grinded away. We hadn’t been playing the footy we know we’re capable of. We challenged the players and pleasingly they responded well.”

Greenvale next welcomes Airport West with both sides holding a 1-2 record after the opening three games of the season.

“They’re obviously in a very similar position to us,” Bewick said.

“We’ve had some good battles over the last couple of years. They’ve got some outstanding players who are crucial to what they do and we will need to account for.”

ABERFELDIE CONTINUE WINNING WAYS

Former AFL forward Callum Moore was a standout in Aberfeldie’s Premier Division win against Airport West. Returning to Abers after a stint in country footy, Moore booted four goals, as did Karl Brown, as their side ran out 64-point winners.

TROUBLING SCORELINE

Essendon Doutta Stars ran out 225 point winners against East Keilor in the Essendon District league’s top tier. But the bigger concern was the fact the Cougars did not register a single score. East Keilor has kicked eight goals across its first three games. For the Stars, Bailey Ryan slotted 10 goals.

MARBY SHOWS ITS CLASS

Maribyrnong Park secured a big win after accounting for Deer Park by 29 points at home. Will Ryan was best afield in a performance which included three goals with Jack Gerardi showing his class with three of his own.