EFL 2019: Aaron Mullett kicks six goals on debut for Mooroolbark

Mooroolbark recruit Aaron Mullett showed why he will be one of the players to watch in the Eastern Football League this year but his six-goal haul was not enough to deny Croydon a Round 1 win.

Aaron Mullett flies for a mark in his return game for Mooroolbark. Picture: Greg Hotker

The Eastern Football League got a glimpse from what it may expect from boom Mooroolbark recruit Aaron Mullett this year.

The former North Melbourne and Carlton defender kicked six goals in his first game for his junior club to be the Mustangs’ standout player at Heights Reserve on Saturday.

But Mullett’s haul was not enough to drag his side over the line as Croydon scored a 42-point win.

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“He’s just an outstanding player and he was outstanding on Saturday,” Croydon coach Morris D’Alessandro said of the 98-game ex-AFL player.

“For the opposition coaches you really have to keep an eye on him because he is outstanding.”

First-game players Ben Cardamone and Riley Costantino were among Croydon’s best players after returning to their junior club in the off-season.

Midfielder Matthew McKenzie was also a strong contributor in the 15.14 (104) to 10.2 (62) win after missing 11 games last year through a hand injury.

Cardamone has played with Eastern Ranges for the past two years, while Costantino played five senior games at Premier division club Norwood in 2018.

“Those two boys really helped us on Saturday. They’ve been a couple of good inclusions … they went away and played at a higher level but have come back and had a real impact,” D’Alessandro said.

Croydon had five more scoring shots in the opening two quarters but scores were level at 36 apiece at the main break before the Blues converted their dominance on the scoreboard in the second half, kicking 10.4 to 4.2 after halftime.

“When you’re inaccurate in front of goal, you know you’re winning the footy through the midfield and you’re giving the forwards opportunity and the link from the back half to the forward half is all working, but we just weren’t finishing that off,” D’Alessandro said.

“We just had to continue doing what we were doing and a couple of positional moves helped us along the way and that worked out for us in the second half.”

Croydon players celebrate a goal their Round 1 win. Picture: Greg Hotker

The result also continued on from Croydon’s second half of last year when the Blues won six of their last eight games to square their campaign at 9-9.

“We spoke about our finish and how we were really happy with the way we finished off but things change from season to season,” he said.

“Last year we rebuilt the side in a sense and at the back end they started to gel together, so we knew we had something special brewing and it was just a matter of working hard to bring it into this year.”

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