MFL | Congupna, Mulwala open up 2023 Murray Football League season with wins

By Bransen Gibson

Apr 2, 2023

Loose ball: James Butts chases the footy during Congupna's 84-point victory over Barooga. Photo by Megan Fisher

Mulwala has kicked off its Murray Football League premiership defence with a come-from-behind victory, while pre-season fancy Congupna began the new season in impressive fashion.

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The Road are one of the flag favourites in 2023 and they started off the new campaign with a strong 84-point win over Barooga.

In front by 33 points at half-time, Congupna held the Hawks goalless in the second half to power to a 15.19 (109) to 3.7 (25) result.

Congupna co-coach Kevin O’Donoghue said there was no better way to start the year off than with a victory.

“I’m always happy with a win,” O’Donoghue said.

“First up, you never know. The opposition has new players and it takes a while for them to work things out and for our new guys to get used to each other, they clicked really well.

“There is still room for improvement, but there were a lot of positives.

“The first quarter was a bit of a grind, but then we really started to get on top in the midfield. And that gave us plenty of opportunities going forward.

“BJ (Squire), Jack Norman, Tate Mifka and James Boyer really got on top in there. It felt like we had the game on our terms.”

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Eyes on the ball: Congupna's James Boyer and Barooga's Callum Leighton Daly chase the footy. Photo by Megan Fisher

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Wrapped up: Congupna's Dylan Minutoli is brought down in a tackle. Photo by Megan Fisher

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Ball watching: Curtley Allen has his eyes on the prize. Photo by Megan Fisher

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Flying high: Congupna's Brodie Poole and his Barooga opponent go head-to-head in the ruck. Photo by Megan Fisher

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Bombing it forward: Brodie Poole gets his kick away. Photo by Megan Fisher

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Evasive manoeuvre: Barooga's Callum Leighton Daly looks to avoid his opponent. Photo by Megan Fisher

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Quarter time: Dylan Minutoli leads the way from the huddle. Photo by Megan Fisher

Squire starred in the midfield for Congupna, playing brilliantly in his first game back at the club after shifting across from Shepparton Swans.

“BJ was heavily tagged, but he would be a hard man to tag. I wouldn’t like to be running around with him because he does not stop running,” O’Donoghue said.

“He is a super player and the opposition knew that, they put a tag to him straight away. He is so hard to tag, he is a great player. We are rapt to have him come back to Congupna.”

Having held the Hawks to four behinds in the second half, O’Donoghue praised the way his side played defensively.

“Our backs were rock solid, I was really happy with that,” he said.

“We have worked really hard on our defensive set-up this year and it was pleasing that it all fell into place.”

Returning to the scene of its grand final victory over Cobram in 2022, Mulwala claimed another memorable win at Moama Recreation Reserve.

Taking on a Moama side that they eliminated in last year’s preliminary final, the Lions overcame a two-goal deficit in the final term to get over the line by two points.

“It was huge. It is a really important four points,” Mulwala coach Rohan Davies said.

“I feel like we pinched that one in the end. Moama played really well and threw everything at us, I was pretty impressed by them.

“We did a lot wrong – especially in that last quarter – but it is incredibly satisfying even though we did that we were still good enough to win a tight game against quality opposition.

“I’m unbelivably happy with the result – not with how we played, I think we can improve out of sight on that – but I am rapt that it goes down in the book as four points for us.”

On the hunt: Moama's Fraser Buchanan attempts to control the ball while being pursued by two Mulwala players.

In a game played in a howling wind, first-half scoring was predicated largely by who was kicking with the breeze – the Magpies were up by 20 at quarter-time, while the Lions stormed back to have a two-goal advantage at the main break.

Scoring slowed in the second half, with only one goal in the third term and five points separating the two teams at the final change.

Kicking against the breeze, Moama opened up a two-goal advantage in the final term, only for the Lions to storm home and snatch victory with one of the final kicks of the game.

A goal to Jack Sutherland first trimmed the margin to four points, before youngster Charley McKenna took a mark and booted the decisive major with seconds left on the clock that propelled Mulwala to victory.

“We knew there wasn’t much time left and Charley went back and kicked it straight through. He knew it straight off the boot, it was a great moment for him,” Davies said.

Elsewhere, last year’s minor premier Cobram earned a 23-point win over Nathalia.

The Tigers led at every change, defeating the Purples 13.11 (89) to 10.6 (66).

Mitchell Ward kicked four goals for Cobram and Harry and Samuel Beasley starred, while Liam Evans had an impressive seven-goal haul for Nathalia.

Wayward goal kicking didn’t hurt Tongala as the Blues prevailed by 63 points over Echuca United, 13.19 (97) to 5.4 (34).

Deniliquin was far too strong for Rumbalara, with the Rams holding their opponents scoreless for the first three quarters as they romped to a 22.19 (151) to 0.1 (1) win.

In the final game of the round, five goals from Josh Evans helped Numurkah triumph over Finley 9.8 (62) to 7.6 (48).

Tocumwal had the bye in round one of the season.