Ruthless Lions send a message to rivals

Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault sent a formidable warning to rival SWFL clubs following its 20.12 (132) to 5.3 (33) decimation of reigning premiers Donnybrook at Brunswick Oval on Sunday.

Billed pre-match as a potential grand final preview, the home side bullied the Dons at the coalface with their fierce tackling, gut running and willingness to do the little things from the opening bounce.

Post-game, Dons coach Julian Burgess told the Bunbury Herald that he hoped the result would be a valuable lesson for several of his younger players who were making the transition to senior football.

“We had a fairly young group in,” he said. “A total of six colts guys played due to the injuries that we had, so I just said to the boys that it was a good effort from the young blokes, we were happy with the way they played.

“But if you want to be a good senior footballer, these are the teams we need to beat in the up and coming years. In terms of match ups, we thought they worked out pretty fine, but it was more so probably our senior blokes who didn’t perform as well as they should have.

“When you’ve got such an inexperienced side, our most inexperienced of the year, it was a very physical game for the young blokes to come into.”

In better news for the Dons, Burgess confirmed that Jace Cormack’s exit from the field during the first quarter with a hamstring injury was precautionary and that he should be available for selection over the next month.

With coach John Baggetta urging his players to send a solid message, the Lions turned on one of the most efficient quarters of football you are likely to witness in 2019, booting 8.3 from 12 inside 50 entries in the second term.

Donnybrook’s afternoon of discontent at Brunswick Oval was summed up by a 30 second brain fade at the 23 minute-mark.

After Ty Armitage kicked his second goal in as many minutes, he was crudely shoved by his opponent as the ball made its way back to the centre. Armitage was then given another shot at goal from the infringement, which he gleefully converted and rubbed further salt into the visitors’ gaping wounds.