Bulldogs bite and defeat Garfield

PHILLIP Island looked every bit the reigning premier on Saturday on its home ground in Cowes defeating Garfield 83 to 29.
Following the unfurling of the 2018 Seniors premiership flag by president Chris Ross and 2018 co-president Casey Cleveland with the guard of honour by both teams and the umpires, it was quickly down to business.
Phillip Island looked the stronger team and dominated from the first bounce.
While Garfield did show some promise with some good marking and passages of play in the first quarter the Bulldogs were relentless and former AFL Demon Cameron Pederson seemed to be everywhere, enjoying his fair share of marks and shots at goal. He bagged two for the match with nine other team mates each scoring a goal apiece, contributing to the final score Phillip Island 11 goals 18 points to Garfield’s 4 goals 4 points.
The strong contingent of Phillip Island supporters were feeling confident at the end of the first quarter with the Island 3.8.26 to Garfield’s 0.2.2, a handy lead and after a rousing quarter time address from coach Beau Vernon the Bulldogs wasted no time in the second quarter putting on another four quick goals and by the 15 minute mark it was all over red rover.
The Bulldogs were relentless in their attack of their weaker Garfield opponent.
Operations manager Scott Huther said coach Beau Vernon was pleased with the win but neither him nor the players were happy with the missed shots at goals, kicking 11 goals and 18 points for the match.
“This is something the team will be working on in the lead up to the next match,” Huther said.
Jamie Youle took on the role of captain with Brendan Kimber out for the match and was awarded best on ground with Marcus Wright second and Cameron Pederson third.
Not only did Youle have a great day out on the park, he also picked up a handy $1000 in the club’s draw on the Saturday night.
Looking to the Easter Saturday match up and Huther said it is going to be a huge game and is hoping for a big crowd of supporters at the kennel.
“This will be the biggest game of the year and will be a real test for the Island,” Huther said.
Phillip Island is again looking like the team to beat even though it was missing three of its gun players including Brendan Kimber, Zak Vernon and Leigh Warne who were out with minor injuries but Huther said they are all expected to be back for the grand final rematch against KooWeeRup in Cowes next week.
It seems the Island isn’t short of talent with Pederson a handy pick up and Huther said he is not just a great addition to the team on the ground but off as well, being a great mentor to the junior footballers as well.
“He is a big tank but also pretty fast, just a great asset,” Huther said.
“We do have about seven players missing from last year’s grand final side but have also picked up some good players in former Leongatha premiership player Jason Tomada and one of Wonthaggi Power’s best Eli Rickards.
“We have also had some of last year’s U18 premiership side including Brodie Anderson, Max Maddox and Billy Taylor (all home grown Island boys) step up to the Seniors so that has been good for the team.
“We are pretty lucky as we are so strong in our juniors with two U10’s, U12’s and U14’s and good numbers in the U16 and U18’s.”
As for next week the Bulldogs should have KooWeeRup’s measure but Huther said KooWeeRup has recruited pretty well in the off season so it will be a different looking team than when these two meet in the grand final last year, when it was a walk over for the Island.
Huther said after the match on Easter Saturday the club is turning on some live music and everyone is welcome to come along for a great night out.
As for the netballers Huther said they have had a bit of a rough start to the year with the new netball courts still under construction so games have been played indoor at the YMCA next to the ground. He said they are hoping the courts will be finished by midyear.

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Apr 16 2019. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry