GFL 2023: St Mary’s notch convincing win as Leopold slide outside top-five after costly lapse
A key out forced a St Mary’s youngster to play well outside his weight division up against an ex-AFL ruckman. And he proved to be the unlikely winner in the role.
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It was the grand final rematch that promised so much.
With fourth on the ladder hosting first, there was plenty to play for and early on it threatened to be a tight encounter with Leopold leading by 10 points midway through the second term.
That was until Leopold was blown off the park in 10 minutes by a dominant St Mary’s side, who piled on five goals in a row to turn that deficit into a 21-point halftime lead.
The alarms would have been blaring for coach Garry Hocking as the Saints surged the Sherrin out of the middle with ease for goal after goal.
St Mary’s momentum continued in the third quarter, with the Saints making it eight-straight goals – a devastating 51-4 run – before Lion Jye Cross converted to break the drought.
By then the damage was done with St Mary’s controlling the final term to claim a 46-point win – eerily similar to the 45-point grand final margin last year.
The home fans angrily questioned the umpiring in the second half, but the blame lays clearly on this meltdown that cost the Lions dearly – albeit against a powerful Saints side that looks to be the team to beat yet again.
The loss leaves the Lions’ finals hopes in the balance in sixth spot, sliding from fourth after St Joseph defeated North Shore and South Barwon stunned Newtown & Chillwell.
Saints co-coach Glenn Keast described the win as “businesslike” and pleased with the way his side was able to restrict the Lions and then pull the second term.
“It felt pretty businesslike to be honest. Felt like we kicked into the wind in the first quarter and made life difficult for them and then took advantage, broke it open from 15-20 minute mark of the second quarter and yeah probably didn’t look back from then,” Keast said.
“I thought we got the ball out of the middle really well, I thought the way we competed and then were able to burst out and get our forwards first use.”
KANE THE GAME-CHANGER
One of the game-changers in that second quarter surge was young gun Kane Loftus who thrived in an unlikely role.
With experienced ruckman Sam Christensen sidelined, Loftus was given the daunting match-up of former AFL ruckman Trent West, playing well outside his weight division against the Leopold big man.
But Loftus’ ability to impact at ground level and away from stoppages proved pivotal, with an outstanding run and long-bomb goal from 50m at the end of the second quarter sinking the Lions and their fans.
The speedster capped his stellar performance by streaming in for another goal on the run in the final quarter, finishing with 26 disposals, 17 hitouts, 12 inside 50s, eight clearances and two goals for the match.
Keast believes Loftus, who bagged five goals against Grovedale last month, has a big future after putting his previous injury troubles behind him.
“Our entire midfield I thought was pretty good but Kane Loftus did pretty well. We had Sam Christensen out today and he went into the ruck and he is sort of 6 foot 2 and playing against an ex-AFL ruckman and gave us some great ground play around the ground and almost gave us an extra mid for us, which I think in the second quarter really opened up the game,” Keast said.
“He has been building for a long time, he sort of had some injury problems last year and then this year early in the year. He has really got his body right now and he is certainly someone who is going to be creating some headaches for opposition coaches.”
FINALS EQUATION
While Leopold certainly wasn’t favourite coming into this clash, two convincing defeats to heavyweights St Mary’s and Colac in the past fortnight does put its premiership credentials into question – and that’s if they make the finals altogether.
Leopold will be tested again when it faces St Joseph’s away from home next week and will do battle with Geelong West Giants – who are no easybeats – Newtown & Chillwell in the run home.
The Lions still have a healthy percentage on their side and South Barwon has a challenging run coming up, but the next month will decide their finals hopes and whether they are a genuine flag threat.
On the other side of the equation, St Mary’s is gunning for first place with a top-two showdown coming up next week against Colac.
With both sides sitting on equal points, the contest is set to decide who gets the week off in the first week of finals.
“It is certainly tight at the top-end and if you cast forward all the teams play each other so we’ve got another big game this week against Colac and the way that’s shaping up is that is going to be for top spot,” Keast said.
“We are conscious we needed to get the job done today and we’ll look forward to next week and set ourselves for Colac.”
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Originally published as GFL 2023: St Mary’s notch convincing win as Leopold slide outside top-five after costly lapse
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