VAFA: Old Trinity unleashes 200cm giants, De La Salle’s young guns

A VAFA Premier B club has unleashed its two dominant big men for the first time this season as the coach reveals his verdict on the duo. Plus, the 17-year-old kid who lit up a Premier game.

Old Trinity coach Donald McDonald. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Old Trinity coach Donald McDonald has a new dual threat but he’s just unsure how often he will be able to unleash it.

For the first time this season, McDonald was unable to unleash VFL big man duo Boston Dowling and Dom Payman as the Ts held on for a thrilling one-point VAFA Premier B win over Old Carey.

Dowling, who is on Collingwood’s list, stands at 204cm and has played four games for his community club this season, named in the best on three occasions so far.

Payman, who booted 46 goals on Old Trinity’s run to the preliminary final last season, has started the year with Coburg but was made available for the weekend.

“It’s a big challenge for the opposition when you’ve two boys that size,” McDonald said.

“It’s the first time they’ve played together and you could see the difference it gives us. The challenge for us is, we had such a big forward line, there was a few times where the ball came out a little easy but it’s something we will work on.

“Given both boys are on VFL lists, we’re not sure how often we’ll get to see them together but we will make the most of it when we can.”

Old Trinity skipper Hugh Beasley thrived with the added presence inside 50, finishing the afternoon with four goals.

“He’s been rock solid this season,” McDonald said.

“It makes it difficult for the opposition to defend.”

Old Trinity’s George Belcher. Picture: Valeriu Campan

McDonald’s side has now won four games on the trot after dropping their season opener to Old Camberwell by one-point.

He said four points at this stage of the season “are gold”.

“You just gave to bank early wins,” he said.

“We get to the middle part of the season and sides are losing players to holidays, it will be interesting to see how everyone is impacted.

“The competition bats really deep, it keeps you on your toes.”

PREMIERSHIP STATEMENT FROM OLD CAMBERWELL

Old Camberwell showed why its as strong as any team in the competition after handing Old Ivanhoe its first loss of the season in an 11-point victory. Harry Laukens made the most of his opportunities in a low scoring contest with four majors while Sam Veitch was best afield.

SKOB UNLEASH NEXT WAVE OF TALENT

St Kevin’s showed off the depth it has at its disposal in a 42-point win over University Blues with four players making their senior debuts. Among them was Angus Hanrahan who is on the Sydney Swans’ VFL list. Young guns including Angus Phillips, Dexter Prime and Seb Duffy also broke into the side. The evergreen Pat Kerr booted five while Sam Barnett, who returned from Old Geelong for this season, booted four as he continued a remarkable start to the season. Barnett has been named in the best in every game.

St Kevin's had four players make their senior debuts.

YOUNG GUN’S IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY

Antonio Giampa has played just two games of footy, he’s only out of under-16 footy last season, but he’s already catching the eye. In De La Salle’s 27-point loss to Old Haileybury he was the highest rated player on the ground with 135 Premier Data ranking points. His stat line included 32 disposals, 12 contested possessions, six inside 50s and six tackles.

MAZENOD SHOWS ITS BEST FOOTY

After three losses on the trot, Mazenod is back on the winners list after picking up an impressive 41-point win over Parkside. Mitch D’Angelo was best afield to continue an impressive run of form, being named in the best in each of the last four. Hayden Boyce led the way with four goals as D’Angelo, Shaun Lovell and Jarryd Raffa all chipped in with three.

MURPHY BACK WITH A BANG

In his first game of the season, Ben Murphy played a key role up forward for St Bede’s/Mentone in its shootout with Marcellin, finishing with four goals. He formed a dynamic partnership with young gun Xavier Russo who finished with three. It was a day for the number one’s in front of goal as Murphy’s opposite number, Lachlan Rush, finished with six in a losing effort.