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Gallery | Mooroopna cops the wrath of Shepparton in round 11 of GVL
Don’t poke the Bear in 2024.
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After lowering its colours the previous weekend against Echuca, Shepparton has flexed its muscles over Mooroopna in round 11 of the Goulburn Valley League.
From the first bounce, the Bears were up and about and their tackling pressure, voice and intensity remained consistent throughout the whole day.
Gun recruit Joel Brett started Shepparton off in fast fashion, crumbing and snapping a goal 20 seconds into the match, with the healthy-sized crowd at Deakin Reserve celebrating raucously.
Shepparton’s manic hunt for the football and its opposition continued, with Cats players making unforced errors simply due to the perceived pressure.
Key forward Trent Herbert was missing from the Bears, with Shepparton trialling a new forward mix with Ben Moylan and ruck-forward Miles Rowlands rolling through the forward 50.
At quarter-time, the scores were 3.8 (26) to 1.1 (7), with the Bears’ inaccuracy keeping the Cats within reach.
There was no splitting off into groups in the Mooroopna huddle as coach John Lamont delivered stern words to his troops before calmly imploring his players to take the game on.
In the second term, Brett continued to ooze class as he was calm under pressure, clean by foot and finished with three goals for the match.
Shepparton player-coach Xavier Stevenson couldn’t speak more highly of his versatile forward.
“He is a quality player, a super, super player,” Stevenson said.
“What probably goes unnoticed is today he would have had over five tackles and three holding the balls and some of them was saving goals, so his pressure was awesome.
“Plus, his finishing skills were elite, so he is a focal target for us there, as we feel we are a really dynamic forward line; we had a few out today, but we were able to replace them and still kick over 100 points.”
The Bears’ pressure and intensity was back to their best as the goals began to pile up for the home side.
With each Shepparton goal kicked, the western end of Deakin Reserve — which seemed to be vying to replace The Deck while it is temporarily shut — began to celebrate harder, with house music blasting after each Bears goal.
Mooroopna was never able to fire a serious shot at Shepparton throughout the match, as the Bears remained steely focused on their task.
Heading into the game, Stevenson said Shepparton was determined to play a selfless brand of football.
This was highlighted by the fact that the usual suspects Luke Smith, Adam De Cicco, and Stevenson weren’t among the Bears’ best players.
“We had a huge emphasis on being real selfless with our role today,” he said.
“It stemmed from a bit of a club legend, we had Rowan Hiscock Day today.
“He played over 300 games for our club and he is a really selfless individual, so we really wanted to embody that and, to be honest, I think everyone played their role really well.
“I was really impressed with our wingers today ‘Rumby’ (Lachy Rumbiolo), ‘Meeky’ (Daniel Meek) and Tanner (Madigan); I thought they were terrific and gave us a lot of drive and held their width really well.”
The match was effectively done at three-quarter time, with the Bears leading 87-32.
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Shepparton's Daniel Meek and Mooroopna's Isaac Dowling contest the football. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 2 of 9
Mooroopna's Keelin Betson and Shepparton's Ash Holland fly high in the ruck. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 3 of 9
Shepparton's Joel Brett kicks his third goal of the game. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 4 of 9
Mooroopna's Jack Lear pressures Shepparton's Lewis McShane. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 5 of 9
Shepparton's Jhett Cooper kicked four goals for the match. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 6 of 9
Shepparton's Daniel Meek was impressive in his second senior football match. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 7 of 9
Mooroopna's Ben Butts scans the field for teammates. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 8 of 9
Shepparton's Joel Brett snaps truly. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 9 of 9
Shepparton's Ben Moylan kicked his first goal in senior football. Photo by Rechelle ZammitYoung gun Jake Watts was shifted forward in the second half and was electric for Shepparton by using his speed, bravery and goal nous to snag three majors for the match.
In terms of injury concerns, Mooroopna midfielder Dom Gugliotti exited the ground in the final term with what appeared to be a shoulder injury after a heavy collision at half-back.
Shepparton defender Connor Fleming went off with a quad injury in the first quarter, while Bears gun Smith finished the match with ice on the back of his knee, but it appeared to be precautionary.
Shepparton refused to take its foot off the gas in the final term, with the Bears walking away 68-point winners.
The final score was 16.19 (115) to 5.17 (47).
Stevenson said he was proud of how the Bears perfectly executed their game plan for the Cats.
“We played a lot more on our brand today,” he said
“In terms of Mooroopna, we know they are a super side, so we knew what they would bring with a high handball game, which was going to welcome some of our strengths, which is our pressure, and I thought our pressure today was terrific.”
On the flip side, Lamont said the Cats needed to work on their mental approach to the game.
“We were just completely outplayed in just about every facet of the game for the entire match,” he said.
“We didn’t get it right mentally and we made every unforced error in the book.
“If you’re not right psychologically and mentally going into the game, I can be pulling moves and switching blokes (positions); if guys haven’t got their head on straight, then it’s not going to matter a whole lot.”
This weekend, both sides will have a week off during the Goulburn Valley League’s split round 12.