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VAFA Premier Men's Round 1 review
Jason Bennett • April 7th, 2025 5:55 pm
Early statements made in William Buck Premier Men’s
Some clear messages of intent were delivered in the season's opening round.
Old Scotch unfurled their 2024 premiership flag and launched their defence with a hard-fought victory over St Kevin’s in a high-quality clash at Camberwell Sportsground.
SKOB had their share of territory in the opening term, generating more Inside 50s, but failed to capitalise, booting 1.5 to 4.3 to trail by 16 points at the first change.
The Cardinals got their uncontested game going in the second quarter, extending their lead to 26 at the major break.
SKOB made some corrections in the third term but squandered their opportunity to punish on the scoreboard again, booting 1.5 to lose the term despite winning more of the footy.
St Kevin’s fought on and finished strongly, converting their inside dominance into 17 Inside 50s to 6 in the final quarter and booting 5 goals to 2.
They would finish with 12 more Inside 50s and more scoring shots, but it was a more efficient Old Scotch posting a 14-point win.
Mark Gnatt (Old Scotch): “We were really pleased with our pressure at the source and the ability to create turnovers.
“It was great to welcome some debutants into the team - Jake Torney and Tom Farrer - who played their roles very well. Ryan Walsh, Max Suttle and Angus Halse all acquitted themselves very well, having only played a handful of senior matches. Halsey had a tough match-up on Kerr, and he did a brilliant job.
“St Kevin’s are such a quality side, and they kept coming at us, so it was very pleasing to get the 4 points.”
Anthony Lynch (St Kevin’s): “It was great to be back into the real stuff after a long summer. We learned that Scotch are still very much the benchmark in 2025. They didn’t allow us to get our game going with their pressure and intensity.
“We had periods of the game where we had some good control but we couldn’t convert during those times and therefore couldn’t build any scoreboard pressure.
“We have 7 days to get to work and be ready to take on Old Xavs at home.”
The thriller of the round was at Melbourne University Oval as University Blues & St Bernard’s played a first-up nailbiter.
A free-flowing 7-goal opening term saw the Snowdogs hold a 5-point lead at the first change, courtesy of two late goals to Nick Conlan.
The Blues returned the favour in the second term, trailing for most of the quarter before a Sam Grimley goal entering time-on gave them a one-point lead at the major break.
8 points separated the teams at three-quarter time before the Snowdogs jumped out to a game-high 16-point lead via Nick Conlan’s third goal early in the last term.
But the Blues weren’t done yet, kicking 4 of the next 5 goals to snatch the lead via a Mojwok Akoch goal at the 23-minute mark.
But there was one last twist… a hurried kick out of the Blues’ defensive goalsquare was marked by Joey Agresta 25 metres out on a slight angle. The siren sounded as he headed back to take his kick, Agresta calmly slotting the goal for a thrilling 1-point after-the-siren win.
St Bernard’s snapping their run of 9 consecutive away losses in the most dramatic fashion!
Steve Alessio (St Bernard’s): “Great endeavour and attack on the ball in what was a hard fought game all day.
“We continue to grow as a team, with our ability to stay in the game for longer. That let us down at times let us down last season with lapses in concentration, so yesterday was a step forward in what was a real arm wrestle.
“The contribution of our debutants was pleasing, as was the solid return of our midfield leaders in Luke DiLizio, Ben Huggard and Ethan Schumann.”
Matt Smith (Uni Blues): “It could’ve gone either way, and unfortunately it went against us this week, but we fought the game right out to the end and could see patches of the way we want to play, which stood up well.
“Skill execution is a focus – that can be very costly – and we’ll continue to work on being more difficult to play against.
“Cam O’Shea was very good for us down back, along with Nick Conway who picked up where he left off last year.”
No such last-gasp dramas at the other three matches, which all turned out to be one-sided affairs.
Old Haileybury made a huge statement, returning to the top-flight with what ultimately turned out to be a thumping win over Collegians.
The Bloods established inside and territorial dominance from the outset, booting 4.4 to 1.1 in the opening stanza before the Lions found their feet around the contest in the second to stabilise the scoreboard.
Collegians won their share of contested ball in the third, but midfield turnovers harmed their cause as the hosts retained their comfortable lead to be 4 goals up at the last change.
The last quarter turned out to be a major flex from Old Haileybury. They converted 19 Inside 50s into an incredible 10.4, running riot to celebrate their return to the big time with an eye-catching 74-point win.
Daniel Ward (Old Haileybury): “Pleased with the belief that our group had on the day. We had a plan and we executed it really well. We learnt that if we play our brand of footy week in, week out it will hold us in good stead.
“Jack Bell was super all day in the ruck, giving our mids first crack at it. All of our leaders stood up and the VFL boys we had all came down with a great attitude and a willingness to do what was required for the group to be successful.
“We understand the challenge we face in heading to Old Brighton this week. We look forward to it as we see them as one of the benchmarks.”
Jordie McKenzie (Collegians): “Old Haileybury were far too good for us on the weekend and very much deserved the comfortable win. They were dominant in the contest, both at ground level and aerially.
“We were able to have some good patches where we got our running game going, but ultimately, we couldn’t contain it. Nick Canny and Matt Warren were defiant in defence and kept battling all day.
“We look forward to the opportunity to bounce back next week against Uni Blues.”
It was a tougher day for the other newcomer to Premier Men’s as De La Salle ran into a red-hot Old Xaverians for the grand opening of the refurbished Toorak Park.
And it was certainly a grand opening for Xavs, who booted the only 4 goals of the opening term before De La hit the scoreboard early in the second.
But that brief success only seemed to spark the hosts even further, as they rammed on a scintillating 10-goal second term to blow the contest wide open with a 75-point half-time lead.
A further 6 goals to 3 in the third quarter extended the margin close to triple digits before Xavs breezed past that milestone with another 8 goals to 2 in the last to send a message to the rest of the competition with a commanding 129-point win – Ed Delany, Charlie Knott, Charlie Macisaac and Stirling Phipps-Parsons all finishing with 4 goals.
Dan Donati (Old Xavs): “Obviously a pleasing result for us. Our first game back at the re-opened Toorak Park with a big home crowd on hand to support us.
“What pleased me the most was the evenness of the performance over four quarters. They stuck to the plans and played out the minutes, which was great to see. Our finishing in front of goal was also a highlight.
“De La gave themselves plenty of good looks, and if not for missing a few early chances, would’ve been a lot closer early on. We need to tighten up aspects of how we defend the ground which is always a work in progress.
“A very even team performance, with very good games from co-captains Campbell Lane and Marcus Stavrou. Our forwards were super, with Macisaac and Bobby Knott working tirelessly and the defence, led by Alex Trigar, holding up really well.”
Nick Hyland (De La Salle): “We were outplayed by a very impressive Old Xavs outfit. I thought the first quarter was relatively even. We had a fair amount of the ball and applied fantastic pressure, we just didn’t get any reward on the scoreboard.
“Second quarter, we dropped our pressure and overall intensity and they made us pay. They were clinical on turnover, and their ability to spread the ground and use the ball efficiently hurt us. We must be better at defending turnover and taking chances in front of goal.
“Second half, we created more chances. I thought we wrestled stoppage momentum back, particular around centre bounce, but our ball use let us down.
“I was proud of our work rate and ability to not give in, despite the scoreline heavily against us. Plenty of learnings to take away, and I’ve got no doubt each individual, and us as a collective, will be better for that 2 hours we experienced against quality opposition.
“Jake Williams provided class and dash from the back half, and I thought Will McKinnon held up well deep in defence and was really strong one-on-one.”
The final game of Round 1 saw last season’s minor premiers continue their winning ways at home as Old Brighton ran away from University Blacks at Brighton Beach Oval.
The visitors actually led by a kick at quarter time, but the Tonners clicked into gear in the second term, booting 5 goals to 1 before really opening the shoulders in the third quarter, slamming on a further 8 goals to 1.
Another 6 goals to 1 in the final term rounded out a crushing 96-point win and the ideal start for a team hungry to savour the ultimate success after a couple of near-misses in recent seasons.
Marcel Bruin (Old Brighton): “It was a ripper day at Brighton Beach, which is somewhat rare!
“Blacks’ pressure was really effective across the ground and their backs set up well behind the footy. Our ball use early was poor as a result, particularly into Forward 50.
“About halfway through the second term we were able to get better pressure on and were cleaner around contest, moving the ball a bit better.
“The second half opened up a little more as we were able to get clearer ball into forwards, we were better at stoppage and backs gave us a lot of drive. It was great to finish really strongly, given the rust and Blacks’ quality early.
“Nice having Felix and Sam Flockart together - Felix looking dangerous all day, finishing with 6 goals. Half-forwards Ben Pryor and Jordy Segar worked really hard to create all day and Tom Fisher and Tom Burnell were very good through the middle.”
Dale Bower (Uni Blacks): “We worked really hard to be in the contest in the first half. Unfortunately, we were not able to go with Old Brighton when they went up a gear or two.
“We are disappointed with our second-half performance. It’s a long year - we will look to improve significantly next week and progressively.”
WILLIAM BUCK PREMIER MEN’S – ROUND 2
Old Brighton vs Old Haileybury KTV LIVE STREAM DOUBLE-HEADER – 11.35am KommunityTV
Collegians vs University Blues
De La Salle vs Old Scotch VAFA.com.au LIVE STREAM – 1.45pm
St Kevin’s vs Old Xaverians
University Blacks vs St Bernard’s SEN MATCH OF THE DAY – 1.45pm SEN app & VAFA.com.au
