Marong’s Brandyn Grenfell and Bambill’s Brad Congress reach magic centuries

Meet the dominant country forwards who have taken just 13 and 11 games respectively to kick 100 goals in a season.

Two Victorian spearheads have become the first in the state to reach the magical 100-goal milestone for the 2022 local footy season.

Marong’s Brandyn Grenfell and Bambill’s Brad Congress as both hit the target at the weekend.

Grenfell bagged his 100th against Newbridge in the Loddon Valley Football League and Congress registered his ton against Nangiloc in the Millewa Football League.

Grenfell officially became the first to notch up 100 as he achieved the milestone in the first quarter, while Congress, nervously, took almost the whole game.

Marong’s Brandyn Grenfell became the first player in Victoria to kick 100 goals in senior football this year. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

The Panther forward, on 96 goals heading into the contest, kicked four goals in the first 10 minutes to achieve the milestone.

Grenfell was swamped after the goal by teammates and fans as everyone rushed onto the field to celebrate.

He ended up kicking 15 for the game as Marong won by 199 points to remain in first, one game clear of its nearest rival.

“It was great to see the kids come out and get excited for it,” Grenfell said.

“It was nice for myself but great to see the kids run out onto the ground and celebrate.

“I tried to make sure I gave a high five to all of them.”

Marong’s Brandyn Grenfell has kicked 10 goals or more in five games this year. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

The milestone for Grenfell came in just 13 games this season after kicking 53 goals in his first eight matches and 58 in his last five.

A former St Mary’s (Darwin), Coorparoo and Seymour player in the Goulburn Valley Football League, Grenfell said the 100 goal target could and should have been reached earlier.

“I had a really bad knee at the start of the season,” he revealed.

“Sometimes I couldn’t walk and I just played in the goalsquare.

“Thankfully that’s recovered now and I am at full health.

“But I think I would have kicked the same goals in the first five games of the season than the last five if I didn’t have the injury.”

He is now focusing, like the rest of the team, on achieving Marong’s first premiership since 1989.

Congress might have been second in achieving the milestone but he took the fewest games, reaching the target in just 11 matches.

The Saints forward target was helped after kicking a club record 24 goals against Meringur last month.

But he almost didn’t get the milestone last week.

Congress had to kick five in the last quarter to reach 100 goals and he did it with a few minutes to spare.

He ended up with six to sit on 101 and conceded he wouldn’t have reached the milestone without help from his teammates.

“The boys had one thing in mind, to get to my 100, and they looked at me for every opportunity,” Congress revealed.

“It ended up with Nangiloc, half way through the quarter, flooding with no one outside of our 50.

“They were trying to stop me scoring.”

This is the first time Congress has kicked more than 50 goals in a season after kicking 44 in Bambill’s premiership winning team in 2019.

He can’t explain the reasons behind the sudden improvement apart from crediting the success to the team around him.

“At the end of the day it is a team effort, it’s an individual thing but a team effort,” Congress said.

“The football club has created a great culture and our club is very close.”

Grenfell and Congress could be joined by Gol Gol’s Adam Thomsen this week with the Hawk on 96 goals in the Millewa Football League heading into this weekend’s match against Bambill.