The Oakleigh Chargers have rebounded from a humbling first-round loss to win three straight games on the back of suffocating pressure.
Last year’s preliminary finalists were completely outplayed by 2016 premiers the Sandringham Dragons in Round 1, suffering a 54-point loss.
In the week following the defeat, Oakleigh Talent Manager Craig Notman labelled the performance “dismal”, saying the Chargers were beaten by “a well drilled unit” and were keen to quickly make amends.
And make amends they have.
One of the most notable statistical improvements in Oakleigh’s three victories over the Eastern Ranges (by 21 points), the Calder Cannons (42 points) and most recently the Bendigo Pioneers (34 points) has been in its total tackle numbers.
The Chargers laid just 57 tackles in Round 1 – eight less than the Dragons – but have increased that number to 87, 98 and 112 against the Ranges, Cannons and Pioneers respectively.
In Rounds 2 and 3, Oakleigh captain and 193cm key forward Toby Wooller led the way by laying 17 total tackles, the same number as tough midfielder Charlie Thompson and second-round inclusion Jack Hewitt.
Xavier O’Neill (pictured) also missed Round 1 but came into the line-up the next week before applying eight tackles against Calder in Round 3. He backed that up with 11 in wet conditions against Bendigo, when the Chargers out-tackled the Pioneers by 47.
However, the two biggest tacklers in the TAC Cup in Round 4 were O’Neill’s teammates Jack Higgins and Lachlan Bugeja with 15 and 14 tackles respectively.
Bugeja impressed as a bottom-ager but Notman would likely have been most pleased by the efforts of top-age NAB AFL Academy midfielder Higgins. Earlier this year, Notman said he was looking for the East Malvern product to “step up his leadership” in 2017.
“Jack certainly leads in terms of the way he goes about his training – he’s as good as we’ve got here – but what I’m looking for is for him to drag some of the other boys up to a similar standard,” Notman said.
Higgins’ tackling last round would have set the perfect example for his teammates.
Round 4 keys to victory:
300: The Geelong Falcons became the first club to notch 300 TAC Cup wins when they defeated the Eastern Ranges by 52 points. The Falcons now have an overall record of 300 wins, 184 losses and five draws from 489 games since joining the competition in 1992. Second on the list of total wins is the Dandenong Stingrays with 296.
26: In a game decided by only six points, the Western Jets’ ability to win crucial contests shone through in their victory over the Gippsland Power. Many statistical categories were even but Western won the contested possession count by 26, led by bottom-age St Bernard’s product Xavier O’Halloran with a game-high 14.
38%: The GWV Rebels capitalised on Calder’s poor kicking for goal in their 80-point win, booting a goal from 38 per cent of inside-50s (20 goals from 52 entries) while the Cannons could only score a major from 11 per cent of their forward-line entries (registering 5.21 (51) from 44 inside-50s).
Round 4 stats leaders:
KICKS |
|
|
|
Matty Lloyd |
GWV Rebels |
23 |
|
Angus Hicks |
Murray Bushrangers |
23 |
|
Ethan Floyd |
Geelong Falcons |
22 |
|
Toby Wooller |
Oakleigh Chargers |
21 |
|
Aiden Domic |
GWV Rebels |
20 |
|
Oliver Stapleton |
Northern Knights |
20 |
|
Judah Dundon |
Western Jets |
20 |
|
Callan Wellings |
GWV Rebels |
19 |
|
Jamison Shea |
Northern Knights |
19 |
|
Jack Higgins |
Oakleigh Chargers |
19 |
|
Callum Searle |
Oakleigh Chargers |
19 |
|
Quintin Montanaro |
Sandringham Dragons |
19 |
|
Dylan Landt |
Calder Cannons |
18 |
|
Mitchell Podhajski |
Calder Cannons |
18 |
|
Bayley Cockerill |
Geelong Falcons |
18 |
|
|
|
|
|
HANDBALLS |
|
|
|
Cassidy Parish |
Geelong Falcons |
22 |
|
Xavier O'Halloran |
Western Jets |
16 |
|
Hamish Brayshaw |
Sandringham Dragons |
15 |
|
Max Lohan |
Sandringham Dragons |
14 |
|
Kim Drew |
Gippsland Power |
14 |
|
Max Dreher |
Northern Knights |
14 |
|
Mitch Cotter |
Dandenong Stingrays |
13 |
|
Jaden Rice |
Western Jets |
13 |
|
Angus Hicks |
Murray Bushrangers |
12 |
|
Matthew Ling |
Geelong Falcons |
12 |
|
Bayley Cockerill |
Geelong Falcons |
11 |
|
Tom Murphy |
Dandenong Stingrays |
11 |
|
Cooper Henson |
GWV Rebels |
11 |
|
Jamison Shea |
Northern Knights |
10 |
|
Jack Higgins |
Oakleigh Chargers |
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
MARKS |
|
|
|
Max Lohan |
Sandringham Dragons |
16 |
|
Jamison Shea |
Northern Knights |
12 |
|
Matty Lloyd |
GWV Rebels |
11 |
|
Louis Cunningham |
Oakleigh Chargers |
10 |
|
Mitchell Podhajski |
Calder Cannons |
10 |
|
Quintin Montanaro |
Sandringham Dragons |
9 |
|
Geordie Nagle |
Sandringham Dragons |
9 |
|
Ari Sakeson |
Sandringham Dragons |
9 |
|
Aiden Domic |
GWV Rebels |
9 |
|
Hayden McLean |
Sandringham Dragons |
9 |
|
Thomas Boyd |
Murray Bushrangers |
9 |
|
Dylan Landt |
Calder Cannons |
9 |
|
Bayley Cockerill |
Geelong Falcons |
8 |
|
Harrison Nolan |
Eastern Ranges |
8 |
|
Lloyd Meek |
GWV Rebels |
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
HITOUTS |
|
|
|
Jobee Warde |
Bendigo Pioneers |
37 |
|
Lloyd Meek |
GWV Rebels |
26 |
|
Brock McGregor |
Western Jets |
22 |
|
Sam Hayes |
Eastern Ranges |
21 |
|
Hayden McLean |
Sandringham Dragons |
20 |
|
Bailey Williams |
Dandenong Stingrays |
19 |
|
Rick Read |
Geelong Falcons |
19 |
|
Ben Kelly |
Murray Bushrangers |
18 |
|
Matthew Harman |
Northern Knights |
16 |
|
Joel Koger |
Eastern Ranges |
14 |
|
Daniel Johnston |
Murray Bushrangers |
13 |
|
Josh Gibbins |
Sandringham Dragons |
13 |
|
Tylar Watts |
GWV Rebels |
13 |
|
Anthony Jenkins |
Oakleigh Chargers |
13 |
|
Julian Patterson |
Gippsland Power |
13 |
|
|
|
|
|
TACKLES |
|
|
|
Jack Higgins |
Oakleigh Chargers |
15 |
|
Lachlan Bugeja |
Oakleigh Chargers |
14 |
|
Aidan Quigley |
Gippsland Power |
12 |
|
Xavier O'Neill |
Oakleigh Chargers |
11 |
|
Harry Benson |
Geelong Falcons |
11 |
|
Jacob Bakes |
Sandringham Dragons |
10 |
|
James Worpel |
Geelong Falcons |
10 |
|
Edward McHenry |
Geelong Falcons |
10 |
|
Will Walker |
Sandringham Dragons |
9 |
|
Lucas Barrett |
Sandringham Dragons |
9 |
|
Callum Porter |
Gippsland Power |
9 |
|
Kim Drew |
Gippsland Power |
9 |
|
Riley Collier-Dawkins |
Oakleigh Chargers |
9 |
|
Anthony Fable |
Northern Knights |
9 |
|
Louis Cunningham |
Oakleigh Chargers |
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
2017 LEADING GOALKICKERS |
Last Rnd |
Total |
David Handley |
Geelong Falcons |
4 |
13 |
Toby Wooller |
Oakleigh Chargers |
4 |
12 |
Gryan Miers |
Geelong Falcons |
3 |
12 |
Aaron Trusler |
Sandringham Dragons |
4 |
10 |
Brent Daniels |
Bendigo Pioneers |
DNP |
9 |
Jordon Reid |
Geelong Falcons |
2 |
8 |
Jaidyn Stephenson |
Eastern Ranges |
_ |
8 |
Lachlan Noble |
Geelong Falcons |
2 |
8 |
Riley D'Arcy |
Dandenong Stingrays |
_ |
7 |
Will Broadbent |
Gippsland Power |
2 |
7 |
Related content:
REVIEW: TAC Cup Round 4
Last Modified on 26/04/2017 20:40