THE Mypolonga canteen had apple turnovers priced at one dollar, apricot turnovers at two dollars, but the most popular on the menu was the Murray Cod turnovers, and for these the River Murray Football League paid a hefty price on Saturday against Great Southern.
The Cods worked so hard to clear the ball from defence only to breakdown going into their forward area, where they burnt the football time after time.
Great Southern were much cleaner with their entry into their forward 50, with the running players hitting their targets and in the finish they picked up a 23-point win. The Murray Cods started off brilliantly when they banged through the first three goals of the game.
They dominated the centre breaks and converted.
Towards the end of the first quarter Great Southern started to settle and find more of the football.
Great Southern’s three class players Mitch Portlock, Marcus Burdett and Brad Haskett showed the way with some crisp delivery.
They linked up with some telling handball, bringing their team-mates into the game and towards the end of the first term they started to look threatening.
River Murray fought back, but it was in the red time that Great Southern broke away and established a 17-point lead going into half time.
With a quarter to go, Great Southern’s lead had stretched out to thirty eight points, but the Cods coach David Schenscher asked for one final effort and they responded by winning the quarter.
The sting had gone out of the game by this time, but the Cods reduced the final margin to twenty-three points.
Portlock, Burdett and Haskett are State country players of the highest quality, they have all played SANFL football and it showed as these players steadied the ship and remained calm when the rest were looking shaky.
Haskett is six foot four in the old language, he is 110 kilograms and can run like Carl Lewis.
His ability to run off his opponent and set up his team mates proved too difficult for the Cods to overcome.
For the Cods, big Jim Pedler was the best ruckman afield, in another big performance by the captain.
The RMFL have uncovered some gems in the young defenders Steven Braun, Ben Quast and Scott Meneghetti.
Braun at full back was very sure in his work and the further the game went the better he got.
He is a nice-sized player, he gave plenty of rebound and is not frightened to take his opponents on.
Ben Quast, after a shaky start, settled in and grew more confident as the game wore on.
At eighteen years of age he showed a lot of poise and maturity and his ability to remain clear headed when the mob was bearing down him was exceptional.
Scott Meneghetti is another eighteen-year-old player who did some very nice things and didn’t look out of place or overawed. Those of us who were there witnessed the mercurial Trevor Rigney take one of the greatest marks of all time.
He flew early, the pack rose under him and lifted him to another level and later on in the evening it was alleged he touched the top of the point post.
This was a mark right out of the box and you had to be there to see it.
The RMFL did Jervois a favour by running Rigney into form and playing him in his rightful position, he finished with six goals for the day and if it wasn’t for his inaccurate kicking he should have kicked ten.
The Murray Cods were beaten but they blooded a batch of young players, they had crack against a pretty good unit and they learnt a valuable lesson.
When you play this level of football the pace quickens considerably, the mistakes are fewer, the tackling is fiercer and the turnovers in play are costly.
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