Coopers Brewery - Woodies Review

Inaccurate and undermanned Woodies overcome Bulldogs

With a record 15 players unavailable (with plenty of hamstring twinges playing a role!) the Woodies faced a dangerous Ormeau outfit on their home deck on Friday night.

A positive about the injuries and unavailability was that it wasn't a surprise late in the week, but something the brains trust became aware of as early as Tuesday.  As a result the call to arms went out and plenty of answered the call!

Players came from far and wide, with Woodies legend Jeffson 'Buddsie' Fehr-Smith abandoning his post as head of security at Splendour in the Grass to resume his spot in the back pocket much to the enjoyment of his teammates.  Also making a cameo appearance was current Colts coach - Reid Dobson, who had previously enjoyed a brief but illustrious Woodsmen career and it was great to see the #3 out there getting amongst it, despite being a little more streamlined these days!

Also coming out of the woodwork was former Magpie Colt, Monty Vine who seems to have found the 20 kilos Dobson misplaced and he put his bulky frame to good use in the ruck in a quality display that had the Woodies brains trust wondering why they hadn't cleared him back before June 30!

Last but not least was Dom Morrison from the Reserves who put his hand up to help out due to being unavailable on Saturday due to a trip home to Townsville.  Young Dominic put his elder teammates to shame with his work ethic and spread from the contest, racking up disposals at will and never once changing off the ball!  Young Dom is certainly welcome back anytime after a clear BOG performance!

Special mention also goes to Ben Ness who at 35 years old and out of the game for a decade, rocked up to training on Wed night for a look and before he knew it - he was pulled into the side for his first outing, where he acquitted himself well with a couple of very good marks.

As for the match, apart from Morrison - it didn't reach any great heights.  The Woodies opened the game with 5 behinds, which was a sign of things to come!  Reguarly pushing forward in slippery conditions the boys struggled to hold their marks, but pleasingly were happy to pull the trigger with some quality and swift ball movement.  Skill errors by foot were rare, but the Woodies were again guilty of the fumbles and at times over committing to the stoppages instead of providing their teammates with the outlet handball.

The half time score of 4.8-32 to 1.2-8 didn't adequately underline the control the Woodsmen had over the game and they came out looking to put the foot down.  The 3rd quarter turned into a one man show, with spearhead Chris Mihalopoulos kicking the entire score for the quarter of 5.2 to the scoreless Bulldogs to open up a 57 point lead at 3/4 time.

With the sizzle out of the game, the Woodies (Mika in particular) kicked plenty more behinds in the last quarter to finish with an 11.17-81 to 2.3-15 victory for a solid % boost to put clear air between the Woodies and 3rd place on the ladder.

Travis Young was again superb down back as he solidifies his spot in the side after a great 3 weeks.  Sean Toohey showed glimpses of his youth with a long bomb goal and subsequent celebration enjoyed by his teammates and travelling cheersquad alike, while Shayne Baldwin showed plenty of run, while Greg Matthews showed poise with 2 quality finishes from 2 tough chances.  Mihalopoulos kicked 7, but could have had 12+ if he had his kicking boots on (if he has any?)

Best: Morrison, Mihalopoulos, Heath, McDonald, Vine, Bell

Goals: Mihalopoulos 7, Matthews 2, Baldwin, Toohey 1