Old Eltham Collegians comeback win cements hold on top-four spot
A pair of unheralded Turtles stood tall as Old Eltham Collegians rallied for a come-from-behind win to strengthen its hold on a top-four spot.
Northern
Don't miss out on the headlines from Northern. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A pair of unheralded Turtles were critical to Old Eltham Collegians’ come-from-behind four-point win over Fitzroy Stars on Saturday.
Jake Cullen and Daniel Hallett stood tall to help secure a critical win at RMIT and keep Collegians’ in front in the race for a NFNL Division 3 top-four spot.
The Turtles trailed at every change and overcame a nine-point deficit at three-quarter-time to win 7.8 (50) to 6.10 (46) and put an end to the Stars’ finals hopes.
Cullen helped quell the influence of Fitzroy gun Jai Burns, while Hallett impressed in defence in just his seventh senior game.
Collegians coach Matt Sleeman said shutting down Burns helped turn the tide.
“Jai Burns was chopping us up in the middle, getting a lot of outside ball, and none of our usual mids could lock down on him,” Sleeman said.
“Jake came across from Epping, where he played a mix of twos and ones, and when he came in he said he plays either back pocket or tags.
“My assistant said ‘I think we need to tag Burns’ and I said let’s use Jake and he really put the clamps on him, (Burns) was still best-on but he had no where near as much impact in the second half.
“It probably helped the rest of our mids as well because Fitzroy became more worried about trying to block for Burns than win the ball themselves.”
Fitzroy Stars burst out of the blocks with a five-goal first-quarter at their home away from home but kicked just one goal for the rest of the match.
They kicked just 1.4 after quarter-time as Old Eltham’s defence muscled up.
Hallett played a key role, firming as one of the finds of the season.
“Dan played juniors but stopped and he came down to the club during COVID, did one pre-season session and hurt his ankle and we never saw him again,” Sleeman said.
“He came back again last year, did the pre-season again but didn’t come back and he’s had another crack this season and hardly missed a session.
“We played him in the seniors in a practice match and he played pretty well and we were keen to get him in the next match but he said he wanted to take it slow and wasn’t ready yet.
“I was like we’re giving him an opportunity to play senior footy and he’s knocking it back and three or four weeks later we had an injury and we were going to call him up but he said he had to work and again I was like, he’s knocking back an opportunity again.
“To his credit he knew what he was doing and kept playing good footy, he was playing forward in the twos, but in all the match sim we played him back and he was dominating.
“In his first game against Laurimar he kept (Jacson) Cecil goalless and he hasn’t looked back since.”
Jeremy Murphy, Jack Fitzgerald and Ethan Longley also impressed in the win.
For Fitzroy Stars, Burns was a standout, while Connor Trajkovski, Tyson Pickett and Josh Wanganeen also impressed.
The win sets up a potentially season-defining clash against Heidelberg West at Eltham College on Saturday.
The Turtles sit in fourth with 28 points, a game and 34 per cent ahead of the Hawks, who have a game in hand.
Collegians then play ladder-leaders Laurimar and Kinglake, Reservoir and Kilmore, while West faces Kilmore, Laurimar, Mernda, Kinglake and Lalor.
DIV 1: BIG MOMENTS THAT DECIDED MONT-HEID DRAW
LEADER: GET YOUR NORTHERN FOOTY NEWS HERE
WRAP: LOCAL FOOTY FLAG CONTENDERS EMERGE
“If we beat them I don’t think the top-four will change, we’d have to lose three of the last six and they’d have to win them all,” Sleeman said.
“It’s a big week, we win that and you can’t start planning for the rest of the season.”
Fitzroy Stars faces the difficult challenge of bouncing back against the Power at Laurimar Reserve.
Elsewhere in Division 3, Heidelberg West defeated Reservoir by 128 points, Laurimar kept Lalor to eight points in a 170-point triumph and Mernda knocked off Kinglake by 35 points.
Montmorency captain to be given until final minute
Montmorency is through to its first NFNL Division 1 grand final since 2013 and will give skipper Stef Uzelac until the final second to prove his fitness.
Ex-AFL names star on local footy’s biggest stage
Local footy grand finals were highlighted by stunning performances from ex-AFL names and even a state cricketer. Here’s a full wrap from across Victoria.