Prime Train impresses as Mildura and Kyabram continue strong seasons
It was a tough weekend for some premiership favourites as ex-AFL players shined in country footy alongside a social media star. Here are all the country footy talking points.
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Winter was in full force on Saturday as some leagues returned after a week off for the King’s Birthday.
Some struggled returning while other players and teams shined.
Here are the talking points from last weekend.
Prime Train impresses for Seagulls
Prime Train kicked two goals and starred as Warragul smashed Drouin by 115 points in the Gippsland league.
Warragul was the next stop for Prime Train on his tour of playing for clubs in the first part of the season.
He’s expected to play for Phillip Island after June 30 for the rest of the season.
The Seagulls were the fifth club Prime Train has played for and he played a part in a pivotal win.
Warragul moved to 6th and 4-5 with the win but importantly got a percentage boost got them past 100 per cent.
The team is now percentage behind 5th.
Bad weekend for unbeaten teams
For Dunnstown and Cavendish, in the Central Highlands and South West District league respectively, their unbeaten runs came to an end in the worse way on Saturday.
Dunnstown lost its first match of the season by 64 points to Skipton, with woeful goalkicking costing them dearly.
The Towners kicked 4.17 for the afternoon.
For Skipton it was a great debut from former AFL player Jesse Palmer who kicked two goals for the Emus.
Palmer, who played three games for Port Adelaide, joined the club during the week before the June 30 deadline for club movements.
Meanwhile, Cavendish lost by 88 points to fellow premiership contender Dartmoor.
The contest was over by half time as the junior club of AFL star Jeremy Cameron kicked nine goals to one to open up a 50-point lead.
The carnage didn’t stop as Dartmoor added eight more goals to send a premiership statement to the rest of the league.
Christian Howlett kicked five goals for the Giants.
Is the top-five sealed?
The Bendigo league finals picture could be sorted in the next few weeks after Strathfieldsaye’s mid-season resurgence.
The Storm defeated South Bendigo by six points for its third win in four games.
Strathfieldsaye has gone from being outside of the top-five to holding fifth by two games over the chasing pack in the past month.
It also became the first team from the bottom-four to beat a top-four team this season.
While the top-four, including Sandhurst, Gisborne, Eaglehawk and South Bendigo, looks set, the battle for fifth is on between three teams.
Castlemaine, in sixth, has the chance to close the gap with three winnable matches coming up.
The two teams, Castlemaine and Strathfieldsaye, then face each other in round 14, which could shape as the match which decides the final spot.
Golden Square, in seventh, face Strathfieldsaye twice before the end of the year putting themselves in position to make it if the Bulldogs can go on a run.
If Castlemaine and Golden Square fail to bounce back, the Storm could wrap up fifth in a couple of weeks.
Special moment for ex-AFL player
Andrew Hooper will remember Saturday for a while after playing in the same team as his nephew for the Ballarat Swans on Saturday.
The former Western Bulldogs small forward played with Emerton Hooper who made his debut for Ballarat against Melton.
Hooper, 16, is part of the Greater Western Victoria Rebels and played in the V-Line Cup last year.
Despite the 20-point loss to Melton, Andrew impressed, kicking three goals on a special day for the family.
Bombers still the team to beat
Kyabram continues to set the benchmark in the Goulburn Valley league and survived another test on Saturday.
The Bombers moved to 10-0 for the season with a 13-point win over the Shepparton Swans.
Kyabram won the contest with a decisive third term, kicking six goals to two to set up the win.
Aidan Robinson kicking seven goals was also a highlight for the Bombers.
The Swans will rue poor accuracy, kicking 10.18 for the day, to let the game slip away.
Kyabram now faces Rochester in another test to its premiership credentials.
In a league of its own
Only one league in country Victoria has two teams with unbeaten starts to the year.
Waaia and Katandra in the Picola league are both 9-0 and could continue the run until the later stages, if both remain unbeaten.
The Bombers, who have won the past three premierships, had a bye last weekend with Katandra smashing Blighty by 136 points.
The two sides are due to face each other in round 16, which means both sides could be 13-0 when they face each other.
What a contest it could be if both teams make it.
Ex-Cat helps to stun defending champions
Port Fairy and AFL premiership player Gary Rohan has helped the Seagulls to stun last year’s premiers South Warrnambool in the Hampden league.
The forward kicked a goal as Port Fairy won by 38 points in one of the club’s best wins in years.
Hampden league legend Jason Rowan kicked two goals for Port Fairy as they came back from a first quarter deficit to stun the Roosters.
Port Fairy is seventh on the ladder, one game away from the finals.
The next four weeks will test whether the Seagulls can make it with top-five teams North Warrnambool, Warrnambool and Portland to come.
Bunyip’s historic win
Bunyip secured its first win since rejoining the Ellinbank District league, beating Poowong by 21 points.
The Bulldogs led from start to finish and kicked away in the third term, kicking five goals to one, to open up a 28-point lead at the final change.
Bunyip held on in the final term to prevail for the first time since moving from the West Gippsland league last year.
Lachlan Petch, Tahj Murphy and William Grummisch each kicked two goals in the win.
The victory ended the second longest losing streak in local footy.
Bunyip had not won a match in its past 45 with the last win coming at the end of the 2022 season.
Is Bambill’s era over?
It’s going to take a massive second-half of the season for Bambill to remain the best team in the Millewa league.
The Saints, who have won the past four premierships, lost to Werrimull on the weekend to languish at 3-5 and remain in fourth, the last finals spot.
But it’s only on percentage ahead of Gol Gol.
This season has not been like the past.
An opening day loss to Cardross was followed by three in a row and the Saints looked to be back.
But Bambill has now lost the past four to put its premiership hopes under threat.
It had no answers for the Magpies on the weekend as Werrimull led from start to finish.
After a turbulent week off the field for Werrimull the team is now on track to make finals, which could come at the expense of Bambill.
For Bambill the form needs to get better otherwise there will be change at the top this year.
Demons the team to beat
It’s been a lean time as a Mildura Demons supporter with only three premierships in the past 65 years.
This year could be the year it changes after the Demons smashed last year’s premiers, Imperials.
11 goals after half time blew the game open as Mildura flexed its premiership credentials.
The Demons won 16.12. (108) to 8.8. (56)
Led by ex-AFL player and coach Sam Kerridge, who kicked three goals, the Demons moved to 8-1 and on track for a first premiership since 2007.
Noah Pegoraro, who is leading the goalkicking in the competition, kicked five goals in the win.
Ex-AFL livewire forward Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti kicked three goals for last year’s premiers.
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