Dylan Riley sets huge goal-kicking target this TSL season
The TSL’s leading goal kicker has 100 reasons to play hard as the Blues defend their premiership, but the Northern Bombers are nipping at their heels. ALL THE MATCH REPORTS >>
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MASTER blaster Dylan Riley banked another five goals in Launceston’s 26-point win over the Tigers at the Twin Ovals to remain on target for the elusive target all key forwards dream about – 100 goals.
Even though he wouldn’t officially admit it, Riley, 28, has a century in mind as the Blues work towards defending their title in 2021.
“Mitch and I have got a target – I won’t say what it is – but he has got a goal he wants me to get to,” Riley said.
“I’ve got to keep playing well each week to try and hit the scoreboard when I can.”
Does that target consist of three figures?
“It might do, yeah,” Riley said.
“Obviously each week is a different challenge, so I’ve just got to take my opportunities when they present, mark the ball and give myself a chance.”
Riley was full of praise for his Tigers opponent Lachie Gadomski.
“He’s good. He’s very good. He got off the chain in spurts and defended well,” Riley said.
“He’s a very good player and we have some pretty good battles together.”
The Tigers gave Launceston a run for its money in Saturday’s clash.
“They set up well around the contest and had numbers at the stoppages,” Riley said.
“We had to work through a few things to get territory but late in the game we got a hard-fought win.
“We came with the mentality of tackling and bringing the pressure.
“They set up well and made it hard for our forwards to kick goals, so all in all we are pretty happy with the win.”
Northern Bombers defying the odds
Brett Stubbs
THE names and faces might have changed, but it is the same old North Launceston powerhouse chugging along in the TSL.
The Northern Bombers are on a six-game winning streak that has included the only defeat of Launceston and Saturday’s strong 34-point win over Clarence in the wet.
But they have done so through adversity, debuting 15 players along the way, and are set to test their depth even more for the trip to Lauderdale to take on their southern namesakes.
Star playing-coach Bradley Cox-Goodyer (hamstring), the TSL’s No.1 ruckman Alex Lee (ankle) and centre man Mark Walsh (concussion) have already been ruled out for the game while young gun Declan Chugg has been cleared of concussion but is still in doubt.
Lee will have scans early this week on his ankle, but Cox-Goodyer said the club was confident it wasn’t as bad as first thought of and, with a bye the following week, he could be back for when North Launceston hosts the Tigers in round 13.
The Bombers will also lose a couple of players to the Devils but do regain Zach Burt from suspension.
“We are scratching the surface to get through to the last game before the bye unfortunately, and then the bye couldn’t come at a better time,” Cox-Goodyer said.
“To play 15 debutants and to be sitting where we are (second), it is going very well.”
North Launceston trails only cross-town rival Launceston on the ladder, with the five southern clubs all chasing.
But Cox-Goodyer denied there was a gulf between the two northern clubs and the rest.
“Clarence beat us early in the year and we beat North Hobart by only 20 points the week before, it is more about needing to show up and play on the day,” he said.
“A lot of people wrote us off at the start of the year with all the changes we had and our team is pretty young compared to some of the others one, but I think the boys have just been cracking in and we were extremely good yesterday to the boys’ credit.”
Depleted Pies hold on for win
Ryan Rosendale
GLENORCHY withheld a spirited Lauderdale fightback to claim its third win of the season and extend the Bombers’ losing streak to eight matches with a 19-point victory at KGV on Saturday.
In what was a game full of momentum swings, an undermanned Glenorchy was able to keep sway on the scoreboard all day to walk away 10.6 (66) to 6.11 (47) winners and keep within striking distance of the top four.
Missing a host of regular senior players, including skipper Brayden Webb, the Magpies started the game with three quick goals before the Bombers were able to peg one back late in the first through youngster Luke Hodoniczky.
A contested second quarter saw both sides unable to build any real momentum, with a Josh McGuinness goal the term’s only highlight as the Pies extended their 12-point quarter-time lead to 13 at the main break. It was all the Magpies throughout the third, kicking four goals to two to open up a 25-point three-quarter time lead as it appeared the home side had put the game to bed.
The Bombers, however, had different ideas and controlled the majority of the last quarter and, if not for some inaccurate kicking — 2.6 (18) — it may have been a famous victory for the boys in black and red.
With his side missing some key experience, Glenorchy coach Paul Kennedy was pleased his senior players were able to stand up while also singling out the performances of his younger Pies to hold strong late in the contest.
“They’ve got an incredibly experienced midfield and they came at us late, and we spoke after the game about the room for improvement in responding in those moments, but at the same time they did that today,” Kennedy said.
“It was really nice to see guys execute different styles of football when the occasion called for it.”
Callen Daly (three goals) and Harrison Gunther (two) were both highlighted by Kennedy post-game while the performance of Nathan Blowfield in defence and Ben Kamaric’s ability to respond after a quiet game last week were also pleasing takeaways for the Magpies coach.
The win sets up a mouthwatering Friday night clash against the Tigers at KGV next week, while Lauderdale faces North Launceston at home.
Webberley believes Roos are closing gap on leaders
Brett Stubbs
THE TSL ladder and the Round 10 results suggests otherwise, but Clarence playing-coach Jeromey Webberley is adamant the gap between the north and the south isn’t insurmountable.
Reigning premier, first-placed Launceston, took three quarters to shake off fourthplaced Tigers at the Twins, while North Launceston (second) jumped Clarence (third) and were never headed in shocking conditions at University of Tasmania Stadium.
The Northern Bombers kicked the opening five goals of the game with the breeze and then coasted to a 34-point victory, 11.13 (79) to 6.9 (45).
The two northern TSL teams are now clear in first and second, but Webberley said all was not lost for the south.
“I don’t think so, we beat them (North Launceston) the first time and they beat us today,” Webberley said.
“They jumped us at the start and were too good for us in the first half. I certainly don’t think there is a significant gap between the two northern teams and the best southern teams.
“I’m hoping us and the Tigers, and if Glenorchy can get their season up and going, we can do some damage in the back end of the year.
“We certainly don’t think the north is ahead of us.”
It took until the five-minute mark of the second term for Clarence to register its first goal through ruckman Ole Angerstein, and despite a fourgoal to two last term, the damage was done.
The victors paid a heavy price for the win, losing ruckman Alex Lee (leg), onballer Mark Walsh (head) and youngster Declan Chugg (head) to injury.
Blues survive Tiger attack in TSL thriller
James Bresnehan
IT was the battle Launceston had to have and while the Blues walked away with a 26-point win over the tenacious Tigers at the Twin Ovals, coach Mitch Thorp was rapt with the scrap and how his men won “ugly”.
For the first three quarters the game was a close, hard, physical clash between two top-four TSL teams.
It took a wintry blast to stop the Tigers in the final term and hand Launceston the slippery conditions it needed to eke an advantage over a brave home side, eventually taking it 11.13 (79) to 8.5 (53).
The Tigers kicked the first goal through livewire Tom Wright but Launceston led for the rest of the game, albeit by only a few points at times.
At the final change the home side trailed by 11 and was playing with the potential to get them home for a massive upset.
But Mother Nature conspired against the Tigers.
Rain hammered down in the last, sometimes coming in sideways, and despite losing star Michael Musicka (ribs) – who ended the day in hospital – in the opening minutes, the bigger-bodied Blues, armed with a ferocious tackling game, kicked away.
Launceston racked up a mammoth 103 tackles to emphasise its attack on the opposition, and gave it redemption after its loss to North Launceston.
“We needed a game like that, where we really got our hands dirty, after our loss to North Launny,” Thorp said.
“We got belted at contested ball. We got absolutely destroyed around the footy, and the boys were pretty disappointed with that.
“We fixed that today. Full credit to the Tigers. I’ve said it all along – they’re a good side.
“Their tenacity and competitiveness around the ball is why they are in the top four and for a large part of the game we had to keep grinding away and we finally broke them in the last quarter.
“That was a good, honest game of senior footy.”
The TSL’s leading goal kicker Dylan Riley kicked five of Launceston’s 11 goals, while Jay Blackberry and Jake Hinds set a gold standard for pressure football with 31 contested possessions and 19 tackles between them.
In the dry conditions, Wright caused uncertainty for the Blues backmen with his speed. He was the leading goal kicker for the Tigers with three, while Max Collidge and Luke Graham kicked two apiece.
TSL hardman back for Lauderdale
HARDMAN Phil Bellchambers has been released by Victorian club North Shore to play for Lauderdale in its clash with Glenorchy at KGV tomorrow in a major coup for the Bombers.
However, AFL recruit Allen Christensen will be out for up to two weeks with a hip injury.
“He did it late in the game and we were pretty worried,” said Lauderdale coach Daniel Willing.
“On Sunday he couldn’t get out of bed and walk.
“He’s made real progress and he’s now off his crutches and doing rehab work.
“He will have an MRI on Saturday morning to make sure there is no significant damage and we could see him back in the next one to two weeks.”
Hard-running duo Josh McGuinness and Bryce Walsh return, along with Bellchambers, who plays for Geelong Football League club North Shore Seagulls, coached by former Lauderdale coach Darren Winter.
“With Covid lockdown in Melbourne, they are not playing at the moment so ‘Windy’ has ticked it off for Phil to be cleared to us as long as we clear him back whenever they get up and going again,” Willing said.
Glenorchy skipper Brayden Webb had good news _ he has not done another ACL, just bone bruising on his dicky knee.
Meanwhile, TSL management confirmed an umpire had used inappropriate language during a Lauderdale-Tigers melee last Saturday but it was not considered abusive.
With fines hanging over them, Tiger coach Trent Baumeler said there was no chance of another melee in their clash with Launceston at the Twin Ovals.
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