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VAFA William Buck Premier Men's Round 9 Review
Jason Bennett • June 16th, 2025 4:53 pm
Dogs & Blues can’t be split, while Blacks roll the league-leaders: William Buck Premier Men’s Rd.9 Review
Premier Men’s leapt back to life with an afternoon of compelling contests across Melbourne.
St Bernard’s and University Blues played out the section’s first draw of the season after an agonisingly tense final term at the Snake Pit.
The Blues dominated the opening term, kicking the only 3 goals to lead by 21 points at the first change, before 4 goals to 1 in the second saw the Snowdogs tie things up at half-time.
The visitors edged in front once again to lead by 7 points at the last change and set up a thrilling final quarter where both teams had golden opportunities to win the game but failed to take them in the key moments.
The Blues’ recent inability to close out tight games reared its head once again as they controlled large patches of the quarter, but repeated forward forays failed to deliver a score until a piece of brilliance from Jack Whitehead saw him dribble a go-ahead goal through from the pocket at the 24-minute mark.
The Dogs lifted and tied it up via a Luke Di Lizio set shot at the 27-minute mark, and despite the desperate efforts of both teams, neither could find the winner in a hectic finish.
The points were split down the middle in a result that might have significant implications for both the Final 4 and the relegation race come season’s end.
James Stewart took the lead in the league goalkicking race with 4, while Darcy Chirgwin and Cam O’Shea both led from the front for the Blues. Charlie Vague, Tom Sullivan and Luke Di Lizio all had an impact for the Dogs.
Steve Alessio (St Bernard’s): “There are always mixed feelings when you’re involved in a draw. You can tend to focus on the negatives, but the 2 points could be very handy towards the end of the season.
“The swirly breeze caused a lot of errors from our boys throughout the day, and there was a lot of pressure on both sides in that last quarter, impacting the overall skill level.
“We need to move on quickly and be ready for the next challenge, as the middle positions on the ladder are really dynamic at the moment.”
Matt Smith (Uni Blues): “Both teams utilised the strong wind in the first half in a real arm-wrestle.
“Our third quarter was disappointing. We lacked energy and seemingly had no interest in the contest. To their credit, St Bernard’s strangled us inside and then controlled the outside, moving the ball at will.
“I couldn’t have been prouder of the response in the final quarter. We had four set shots that failed to register a score, which was obviously very costly. Again, just not rewarding ourselves for the work we are putting in to get ourselves into winning positions.”
The University Blacks’ resurgence continued as they became the first team to defeat Old Brighton this season.
The Blacks entered on a 3-game winning streak of their own, including victories over 2004 Top 3 finishers Old Scotch and St Kevin’s, then added the third piece of that puzzle by defeating the Tonners at Melbourne Uni Oval.
Dale Bower’s men led by a goal at the first break before trailing by a goal at the half. 4 goals in 8 minutes from the midway point of the third term saw Blacks jump out to a game-high 17-point lead before two late goals to the Tonners saw them close within 5 points at the last change.
Goals proved hard to come by in a tight final quarter. Sam Flockart finally found one to put the visitors in front at the 19-minute mark, before Thomas St Clair bobbed up with 2 goals in 75 seconds to kick the Blacks 9 points clear.
Ben Pryor brought Old Brighton back within 3 points via a brilliant long-range set shot from the boundary at the 25-minute mark, but that proved to be the final score – the Blacks hanging on staunchly for the remaining 4 minutes to post a memorable fourth straight win that keeps them on Top 4 pace.
It was a remarkable victory, given Old Brighton’s possession and territorial dominance (+21 Inside 50s & +77 Disposals).
Sam McKenzie was fantastic for Blacks (26 disposals & 13 Rebound 50s), while Kane Loftus and Angus Rana led the midfield. Harry Hill did likewise for the Tonners (39 disposals, 18 Contested, 8 Clearances), with great support from Felix Flockart.
Dale Bower (Uni Blacks): “Our aim was to stay in the game - in Round 1, Old Brighton blew us away from the 15-20-minute mark of second quarter.
“We needed to bring our best contest, pressure/defence game and create strong offense off the back of it.
“Our players gave their all, I’m proud of how they went about it. Old Brighton is a great team and are rightly premiership favourites. We will look to continue improving and look forward to another massive challenge against St Bernard’s this week.”
Marcel Bruin (Old Brighton): “Disappointing loss, but full credit to Dale and the Blacks, their heat and tackle pressure were exceptional for the full 120 minutes.
“They were able to really impact our disposal and with the conditions a little greasy, our group didn’t adapt quickly enough, over possessing and inviting Blacks pressure, causing turnovers that they used really effectively. A couple of clutch goals and contests from their boys, and they held on well.
“A couple of terrific performances - Max Benier dominated down back and made really good decisions with ball in hand, and Felix Flockart and Zach Travers tried really hard to influence the contest.”
St Kevin’s and Old Scotch played out a typically tight and tense clash at TH King, with the hosts ultimately able to keep the Cards at arm’s length in a scintillating final term of high-quality football.
SKOB booted the opening goal before the Cards got on a flyer, booting the next 4 goals to lead by 20 points at the first break.
But, as is so often the case, Anthony Lynch’s men didn’t panic and responded with the only 4 goals of the second term to open up an 11-point half-time lead of their own.
The goals completely dried up for most of the third term as the teams exchanged behinds, before 3 goals in 4 minutes late in time-on (2 to SKOB) saw them head to the final break with a handy 16-point lead.
The game opened up in the last quarter, with goals flowing freely in a fantastic advertisement for Premier Men’s footy.
But every time the Cards threatened to close, SKOB found the response, and, in the end, 5 goals to 4 from Old Scotch wasn’t enough to close the gap as St Kevin’s held on for a vital 11-point win.
It’s a victory that sees them retain fourth spot to begin their four-game season-defining stretch, which includes matches against Old Xavs, St Bernard’s, and Old Brighton before the double bye.
Jack Mahony, Liam Gunson, Sam Barnett and Luke Winter were all influential for the winners, as was ruck Billy Coates in his second game of the season. Sam Grant turned in another excellent performance for the Cards, as did Charlie Cormack down back.
Anthony Lynch (St Kevin’s): “Scotch certainly got the jump on us during the first quarter and had control, which was disappointing, but we addressed that as a group at quarter time.
“The next three quarters of the game were much more of the game we wanted to deliver on, and I was really proud of the application of our group.
“In the end, it was another tight finish, and for our group to have handled the final moments much better this week compared to the previous game shows us real growth.
“It’s probably unfair to single out one area given I was so happy with all of the lads, but I thought for our relatively inexperienced backline to keep a pretty attacking and dangerous Scotch forward line under control was a highlight.”
Mark Gnatt (Old Scotch): “We started the game off pretty well with our ability to create turnovers and then capitalise on the scoreboard - albeit to the scoring end.
“However, SKOB really compressed us in the second and third quarters with a strong team defence that controlled the game. The clearances were a concern for us - SKOB got the ascendancy - and the +18 clearances overall is a telling factor.
“Despite a deficit at three-quarter time, we were really proud of the way the boys finished the match and almost pinched it with a few minutes to go. Full credit to Plugger and the SKOB boys as they executed their plans very well and thoroughly deserved the win.”
For the second time this season, Old Haileybury put the foot down late to power away from Collegians at Harry Trott Oval.
The Lions made good use of the breeze and dominated the early going, booting 4.3 to 0.1 in the opening term, and despite being held goalless into the wind in the second term, still held a 2-goal lead at the half.
The Bloods narrowed that gap to 4 points at the last change in a low-scoring slog before shifting gears to put the Lions to the sword late, as they did back in Round 1.
That day, they slammed on 10 goals to 2 in the final term. This time around, it was 6 unanswered goals to convert their 4-point deficit into a handy 34-point win that sees them close within a game of top spot.
Josh Gasparini, Brede Seccull and Olli Hotton all racked up plenty of the ball for the Bloods, while Andreas Stefanakis continued his sizzling season with another 4 goals.
Max Pinchbeck collected another 19 tackles for the Lions to go with his 22 touches and 10 clearances. Will Pewtress and Campbell Walker also amongst their best.
Daniel Ward (Old Haileybury): “A pleasing and tough win against a committed Collegians team. We knew they would look to get going early, but they jumped us at the start with the wind.
“We lifted our intensity around the footy in the second term, but they set up well to keep the margin at 2 goals at half time.
“The win was set up in the third, when we managed to hold up and score into the wind. Then a pleasing last quarter to kick 6 and pull away. Great maturity from the group to hang in there when things weren’t going our way.
“Big test this week vs Old Brighton, and we look forward to the challenge.”
Jordie McKenzie (Collegians): “For the first time in a few weeks we were able to get out of the blocks well.
“For the majority of the day we played some strong, combative football and were able to maintain our lead.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to sustain this, and Old Hailerbury capitalised and finished the game very strong to eventually have a reasonably comfortable win.
“Will Pewtress played a variety of roles and was our best player. Scott Beilby and Matt Warren were instrumental in defence.
“We look forward to a massive game next week against Uni Blues.”
The final game of the weekend attracted plenty of interest with former AFL champion Josh Kennedy making his VAFA debut for Old Xaverians as they visited De La Salle at Waverley Oval.
And the 36-year-old saw the best of De La so far this season in a game that was far more hotly contested than the scoreboard suggested.
The hosts have become known for their fast starts to quarters in recent times and, sure enough, they jumped out of the blocks with two goals in the first four minutes of the game before Xavs settled into the contest and responded with three of their own to hit the front in time-on and lead by a kick at the first break.
The visitors booted 4 of the first five goals in the second term, but De La wasn’t letting them have it all their own way, and a late goal to Seb Filipovic reduced the margin to 23 at the main break.
Xavs threatened to crack the game open early in the third quarter before 3 goals (including 2 in 2 minutes) from the brilliant Christian Algeri kept De La within striking distance.
It took until the last term for Dan Donati’s men to break the resistance. They added 5 goals to 1 to ultimately blow the final margin out to a game-high 56 points – Xavs posting their sixth win from their last seven starts to close within a game of the Tonners as the Top 3 race tightened.
Reigning Woodrow Medallist Sam Fisher was magnificent with 44 disposals, 25 Contested Possessions, 17 Clearances, 7 tackles and 5 goals, while Charlie MacIsaac slotted 4 to move into equal second in the league goalkicking race.
Josh Kennedy finished with 27 disposals, 21 Contested Possessions and 13 Clearances in just 60% Game Time in a stellar debut.
Christian Algeri had 33 disposals and booted 4 for De La Salle in another superb performance.
Dan Donati (Old Xavs): “We came up against a super competitive De La side on the weekend. In the end, we just had a few more winners on the day. It felt a little closer than the scoreboard represented, so we certainly had to earn this one.
“I want to credit De La’s pressure and running game. It was a vastly different side to the one we played in Round 1, and I’m sure a win won’t be far away for them.
“For us, it was fantastic to have three debutants play their first games for the club. Connor Dunne got his reward after ridiculously consistent performances in our unbeaten 2’s side (including last year’s Reserves B&F), Josh Cumberlidge got his chance against his old side, and we welcomed Josh Kennedy in for his first game in the black and red since leaving school nearly 20 years ago! A big thrill for all involved.”
Nick Hyland (De La Salle): “It was a really tough contest all day. Both teams cracked in and gave great effort.
“I don’t think the scoreboard was a true reflection of the contest. A handful of goals late in the game to Old Xavs from our sloppy turnovers in D50 blew the scoreboard out.
“Overall, I was pleased with our effort and intensity. For three and a half quarters, it was some of the toughest and best footy we’ve played all year. I’m confident if we can bring that level each week, wins are not far away. A positive step forward and one we will look to build on against Old Scotch this week.”
WILLIAM BUCK PREMIER MEN’S – ROUND 10
SATURDAY JUNE 21 – 2pm:
St Bernard’s vs University Blacks SEN MATCH OF THE DAY – 1.45pm on VAFA.com.au & SEN app
Old Haileybury vs Old Brighton
Old Scotch vs De La Salle VAFA.com.au LIVE STREAM – 1.55pm
University Blues vs Collegians
Old Xaverians vs St Kevin’s (2.30pm) VAFA.com.au LIVE STREAM – 2.25pm
Photo: BRIGETTE JOHNSTON
