Hoppers fire late to defeat Bulldogs; Swans and Lions claim emphatic wins

Only one point separated the two sides at three-quarter-time and the Hoppers late burst saw them claim a 15.7 (97) to 11.11 (77) win against the Bulldogs.

Hoppers coach Gavin McMahon was immensely proud of the fight shown by his side late to grab the points in a clash against a fellow finals contender.

"It was a bit of a chaotic week with blokes in and blokes out," McMahon said.

"We weren't even sure at five o'clock yesterday who was playing, so there was a bit of chaos about it.

"For it to be such an important game, it was a bit of an eight point game for us as 6-4 is a whole different to 5-5 going into 'Gullie next week.

"I'm absolutely chuffed, it's the best game we've played all year I think."

The Hoppers trailed the Bulldogs at quarter time after the home side got the jump on them early, however they narrowed the margin to a single kick at the main break.

With the game then up for grabs at the last change, McMahon said he was pleased with how his young side stepped up to go and secure the victory.

"It felt a little bit like the week before for a while," he said.

"We were 30 points down and from that moment they just stuck at their task, it wasn't pretty at times but they were super committed to each other.

"We didn't really have a passenger for the day, I generally couldn't be happier and it's definitely our best win of the year."

Allister Clarke, Kyle Woods and Ben Hodgson were among the best for the Hoppers while Joe Redfern finished with four goals.

McMahon said Clarke was a man on a mission during the week following their loss to Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong last weekend and he believed he was clearly best on ground in their narrow win.

"Al Clarke took last week's game fairly personally as a leader of our footy club," he said.

"He took the boys by the scruff of the neck during the week and really got them up.

"That was invaluable in itself, but for him to go out there and be best the best on ground by a country mile I was just so proud of him and so happy for him."

Jamie Maddox made a surprise appearance for the Hoppers in what was his first senior game for the club since 2022.

McMahon credited the efforts of Maddox and noted that his experience and leadership were crucial at times.

"He was very good," he said.

"Clearly his leadership and his ability to win the ball in tight was really crucial, particularly when the game was in the balance there in the mid to late third quarter.

"He provided some real stability at different times for us and it was a blessing to have him in there to be honest."

It wasn't all good news for the Hoppers unfortunately as debutant Isaac Buchanan left the field in the first term after straining his groin.

Full Time

Coolamon 1.3 7.5 10.5 15.7 (97)

Turvey Park 4.2 8.5 10.6 11.11 (77)

GOALS: Coolamon: J.Redfern 4, A.Clarke 3, J.Buttifant 2, B.Hodgson 2, T.Coenen 1, N.Buchanan 1, J.Maddox 1, A.Macauley 1; Turvey Park: B.Wallett 5, W.Ford 2, L.Leary 2, W.Ashcroft 1, X.McDevitt 1

BEST: Coolamon: A.Clarke, K.Woods, B.Hodgson, J.ALLEN, C.Mckelvie, L.Moore; Turvey Park: B.Wallett, L.Leary, R.Leary, X.McDevitt, J.Margosis, T.Doyle

Griffith are back in the top five exiting round 11 courtesy of a huge 87-point win over Leeton Whitton in the MIA derby.

The Swans stamped their authority on the game early with five goals to one in the opening term and they eventually went on to record a 20.13 (133) to 7.4 (46) win over the Crows.

Heath Northey, Kahlan Spencer, Nathan Richards and Charlie Cunial were all impressive in the big win for the Swans.

Griffith coach Greg Dreyer credited the efforts of Northey as well as noting the performances of Richards, Spencer and Cunial.

"He was good Heater," Dreyer said.

"He's good at organising and directing and the boys respond to him.

"There was a few others as well, it was good having Jack (Rowston) back and Henry (Delves).

"But Heath really organised us through the midfield and he played a very good game.

"I also thought Nathan Richards continued his form pretty well today, he's having a really good year.

"Kahlan Spencer was really good through the middle and Charlie Cunial played on Jade Hodge.

"I thought he did a reasonable job, Hodgey is a very good player and I think Charlie handled him well."

Henry Delves returned to the Swans lineup this week after missing their loss to Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes and he had a big impact kicking four goals.

Dreyer agreed it was nice to have the key forward back in the side as a target inside forward 50.

"Yeah he's a good player Henry," he said.

"He moves well and he's a good target, he's hard to stop and he had a good day today."

The Swans were coming into the clash after back-to-back losses to Collingullie-Wagga and the Goannas and Dreyer said it was nice to get a win ahead of having the bye next weekend.

"It didn't matter who we played to be honest, it was just about getting back to playing some consistent footy," he said.

"I thought we played reasonably well, we kicked 7.1 in the third and 5.2 in the last so it was nice to be able to run the game out.

"You can only play who you've got and we did that, we felt we did what we had to do so I'm pleased we got back on the winners list again.

"It was nice to get back and have a bit of structure and a bit of clear thinking and communication on the ground.

"Just get back to what we do well and it was good to get back into a bit of a groove, we've got something to build on now."

Full Time

Griffith 5.5 8.10 15.11 20.13 (133)

Leeton Whitton 1.1 3.2 4.2 7.4 (46)

GOALS: Griffith: H.Delves 4, J.Neyland 2, K.Spencer 2, T.Powell 2, O.Bartter 2, T.Tyson 2, L.DeMamiel 2, B.Evans 1, J.Girdler 1, N.Richards 1, K.Ruyg 1; Leeton Whitton: B.Ryan 3, J.Hodge 2, J.Clayton 1, N.Finnen 1

BEST: Griffith: H.Northey, K.Spencer, N.Richards, H.Delves, C.Cunial, O.Bartter; Leeton Whitton: C.Neutze, A.Crelley, T.Meline, J.Norman, N.Finnen, C.Jones

Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong celebrated a big day for the club in style as they recorded a 123-point win over Narrandera.

Matt Hamblin shone for the Lions while Jack Powell kicked five goals as they secured a 19.17 (131) to 0.8 (8) win over the Eagles.

The Lions were hosting first grade premiership reunions for their successful 1944, 1964-65, 1984 and 2004-05 senior sides while it was also captain Ben Walsh's 200^th senior game for the club.

With so much to celebrate, GGGM coach Sam Martyn was delighted his side could claim such an emphatic victory.

"I'm pumped with the way we played our footy today," Martyn said.

"We wanted to put out a four-quarter performance regardless of where the opposition were on the table.

"We got to three-quarter-time last week and didn't quite execute that last quarter how we wanted to, we probably let ourselves down.

"But this week we got to that three-quarter-time junction and we were able to play some outstanding footy.

"The moment that capped off the day was when Jack McCaig kicked the ball inside 50 after we'd rolled Ben Walsh forward.

"As the siren sounds he's taken a contested mark and I don't think you could have written the script any better.

"To cap it off he kicked it right in front of all the past premiership players, that's definitely a special moment that I won't forget for a long time.

"It would've capped off an amazing day for Mitts (Walsh), he so thoroughly deserving of all the accolades and all the success he's had because he's such a great person."

The only sour note for the Lions was the fact that teenage debutant Jarvis Pritchett didn't play the game out after copping a knock.

Martyn praised Pritchett's efforts and believed he had shown some promising signs at first grade level.

"Jarv was fantastic," he said.

"I was really pleased with how he was going, unfortunately his day ended early with a late hip and shoulder which puts a bit of a sour note on his debut.

"But up until that point he was fantastic, he made the right decision when he had the ball and he was very good in the contest.

"More often than not he won it or halved it, it's something the club has to look forward to with some of our younger crop coming through."

Full Time

GGGM 6.3 9.7 14.12 19.17 (131)

Narrandera 0.2 0.5 0.6 0.8 (8)

GOALS: GGGM: J.Powell 5, J.Taylor 4, S.Hamblin 2, J.McCaig 2, S.White 1, T.Anderson 1, B.Walsh 1, J.Connolly 1, T.Sase 1, M.Hamblin 1

BEST: GGGM: M.Hamblin, J.Powell, J.Taylor, S.Butterfield, J.Walsh, T.Quinn; Narrandera: B.Renet, H.Pole, C.Vearing, K.Bloomfield, J.Spurr, E.Puruntatameri-Dunn