Zac Taylor’s Adelaide AFL debut helps spark Oak Park’s huge EDFL win

Oak Park coach Todd Clark thought bad news was coming when his phone rang on Saturday morning but it was just the first step on a day where his side took a big step towards safety. Here’s what happened.

Oak Park’s Lachlan Ronaldson. Picture: Andy Brownbill

When Oak Park coach Todd Clark saw his phone ring at 10am on Saturday, all he could think was about the bad news he was about to receive.

Jedd Taylor was a last minute withdrawal as his brother and Roos product Zac was set to make his AFL debut for Adelaide, after receiving a late call up, against the GWS Giants on Saturday night.

As Jedd prepared to board a flight to South Australia, it shaped as leaving a huge hole in Clark’s side as they were set to take on Moonee Valley in an “eight-point game”.

What Clark didn’t realise, the phone call was only the start of an exciting day for Oak Park as they eventually prevailed 12.12 (84) to 8.10 (58).

It was a result which left them sitting two games and percentage clear of the relegation zone.

“When your phone rings on a Saturday morning, you usually think someone is about to pull out. The stress is probably a little more when it’s such an important player,” Clark said.

“But it was such exciting news for us as a footy club, hopefully this is the start of a really good career for him (Zac). We’re ecstatic he got out there.

“Once our game had finished, six boys were showered and made a dash for the airport. He played all his junior footy with us, Zac has a lot of great mates still here.”

Kane O’Halloran and Lachlan Ronaldson played key roles in Taylor’s absence with three goals apiece, the latter named the best player on the ground.

After just eight games last year after crossing from Diggers Rest, Ronaldson has found greater continuity this season.

“He had some thigh problems when he came to us and our physio found there was an issue with his running technique,” Clark said.

“They’ve gone to work on that and have him moving as freely as he has in a long time. Last year, there were times where we were wrapping him in bubble wrap and rolling him out when we could.

“He was huge on the weekend. His goalkicking hadn’t been where he wanted it to be and it turned on the weekend. He probably took 12-plus marks in really tough conditions.”

Clark said O’Halloran had been “great” since joining the club at the season from Therry Penola in the VAFA.

“Really stick hands, but can also impact at ground level.”

Zach Graham was a welcome return for Oak Park. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Max Gleeson and Zach Graham also won plaudits from the coach as they continued to show strong form.

Rising star Graham was just in his second game back from a broken jaw.

“Unfortunately he collided with a teammate in a practice match,” Clark recalled.

“He’s just got footy smarts. We were patient with him coming back and wanted to make sure he was mentally ready.

“Max was just intercepting everything. We were also happy with Paul Pascu, he’s starting to play some of the footy we know he’s capable of.”

Oak Park will now face another huge clash on Saturday against Craigieburn.