Corowa hopped by North Albury

Goals: North Albury: Josh Minogue 7, Archer Gardiner 2, George Godde 2, Keith Tallent 2, Tim Broomhead 1, Nathan Dennis 1, Zac Hanrahan 1, Cooper McIntosh 1, Jack Penny 1, Ryan Polkinghorne 1.

Corowa Rutherglen: Sam Dunstan 2, Darcy Hope 1, last goal not listed.

Best: North Albury: Joshua Minogue, George Godde, Cayden Winter, Archer Gardiner, Foster Gardiner.

Corowa Rutherglen: Nathan Dunstan, Brady Morton, Bailey Pirnag, Joe Hansen, Scott Jansen, Caleb Bertram.

It was a hard day for the Roo boys at Bunton Park, falling to North Albury by 16 goals.

Bright sunshine greeted both teams as they met for the O&M Indigenous round clash. Prior to the start of the game, there was a smoking ceremony and a welcome to the country.

The Hoppers raced out of the blocks early, capitalising on the first major for the afternoon.

It wasn’t long until spearhead forward Sam Dunstan chimed in to kick his first for the afternoon to boost the team’s confidence.

After the game Coach Steve Owen praised the team’s efforts during the first term as they “matched North Albury around the contest to the advantage of our forwards.”

The early pressure around the ground was intense, with the Roos trying to collect any turnover from the Hoppers and give first use to forwards Dunstan and Darcy Hope.

The game came alive with some handy roving skills from youngster Luke Accuri using his football smarts to slot the Roos second major.

Sam Dunstan hammered home his second goal on the brink of quarter time, which gave the Roos faithful supporters some optimism.

The margin was cut back to eight points at the first break. It was Sam's older brother, Nathan, who caught the eye of coach Owen as he has continued to be impressive over the last month.

Nathan continued to show strong work in the ruck. He has been a consistent performer over the last month, averaging 15 disposals and 25 plus hitouts a game.

His ability to get first use on the Roos players was lauded by Steve Owen after the game. “…..in the last 5-6 weeks, he has been sensational… in getting first use on our midfielders.”

The second term saw a brilliant mark from Darcy Hope 45 metres out, landing a fine drop punt through the middle with consummate ease.

It was, unfortunately, the end of the Roos spark for the day though, and was where the tables started to turn against Corowa.

The Hoppers midfield brigade took on full charge and extracted the game out the Roos hands.

Bailey Pirnag and Brady Morton worked tirelessly up and down on the ground and fought as hard as they could, whilst Joe Hansen had a long day having to match up on one of the league's inform forwards, Josh Minogue.

It was the Hopper’s counterattack on the transition to midfield to forward that the Roos couldn’t find the answer for.

There are still plenty of positives to take out of the match.

"When applying the right processes, the execution will come,” Owen said after the game, especially the first half, which saw the Roos take it up to a top-three side.

They will now move their attention to Wodonga Bulldogs in front of the 2003 Premiership player squad and hope for a better performance.

Awards: Nathan Dunstan, Brady Morton, Bailey Pirnag and Joe Hansen.

Reserves

North Albury 16.17.113 def Corowa Rutherglen 4.2.26.

The reserves took on the Hoppers who the Corowa boys matched up well against last time they played in round 3.

North Albury burst out of the gates quickly, landing a quick succession of goals within a matter of moments, which proved too much for the Roos defence to counter for.

The first major the Roos saw a great passage of play with small forward David Wink getting on the back of one and landing a great goal.

Wink provided some fireworks by somersaulting as a celebration.

The second quarter saw the best for the year with Simon Lavis, Jed Ansell, Kane Quirk chiming in all with great efforts from all three.

Jed was rewarded by a great run down tackle and slotted brilliant major and Kane has continued his good form being a reliable swing man able to kick a great goal.

Simon Lavis’ kicked one of the more extraordinary goals with a 100m penalty. Lavis’ goal was his first since 2022 for the Roos.

Caleb Kuschert was great in his first game for the Roos since his under-18s days in 2019 and brought plenty of carry down the ground with his pace, and Aaron Spencer was running like he was a relay runner, taking four bounces down the wing, wowing people with his pace.

Ben Black fought valiantly in the ruck who was able to compete with a handy ruckman giving off a good duel for the day.

Whilst it was the under 18s fill ins of Brodie Eyers and Lenny Hill that was sensational all day, backing up a second game.

Goals: David Wink 1. Other goals not listed.

Best: Jed Ansell, Benjamin Black, Jayden Hall.

The ressies take their attention to Wodonga Bulldogs this week.

Awards: Lenny Hill, Beau Damn, Brodie Eyers and Jed Ansell.

Thirds

North Albury 9.7.61 def Corowa Rutherglen 8.6.54.

After claiming the Roos first win against North in round 2, the team were really keen to go head to head again.

In the first quarter Corowa came out firing, and finally got the start they had been searching for.

The midfield battle was really good to watch and a great challenge for the mids.

The Roos had another really good start to the second quarter. But unfortunately North’s pressure was too good and they started to get on top and were able to play on their terms.

After a chance to reset, Corowa were able to keep their noses in-front after a 3 goal to 1 quarter.

Lending into the last term, the Roos were unable to find their way back into the game. The pressure around the ground from North and their ball movement on their home deck was just too much for Corowa on the day.

Goals: Isaac Dickinson 2, Charles James 1, Jack Keys 1, Jay Lavis 1.

Best: Franklin Murray-Wright, Benji Hanrahan, Charles James, Luke Nicholson, Brodie Julian, William Linden.

Awards: Franklin Murray- Wright, Benji Hanrahan, Charles James and Luke Nicholson.