Power, precision and plenty to prove

The Division 3 men’s competition has officially begun.

While there were no real surprises looking at the results, there were positive signs for all ten teams in their matches as they look to build their match play and fitness into Round 2 and beyond.  

In the first match of the season, North Brunswick showed that they are still one of the teams to beat in Division 3 with a 30-point victory over Albert Park.

The match was a close battle between the two sides, with the game teetering within a three-goal margin for the first three terms.

But the Bulls’ structure and clarity under coach Domenic Fontana around their roles, would get them over the line as they managed to kick three consecutive goals in the space of five minutes within the last quarter to get out to an unassailable lead.

For Albert Park, Coach Jack Aimes believes that for the Falcons to have remained so close with a limited bench for the second half showed promise for what they can do this season.

Accuracy also had an impact with Albert Park only scoring 6.12 while the Bulls scored 12.6 with Aimes believing that they should have capitalised on their chances, particularly in the first half.

With their new additions still gelling into the senior side, the Falcons will look to build upon this foundation into next week’s match.

In Wattle Park’s first game back in Division 3, they showed their prestige and ability with a 95-point belting against Eley Park.

The Sharks kept the game competitive throughout the first quarter as they took the lead at points and kept it close till halftime with great accuracy helping them.

Sharks Coach Matt Embling was particularly proud of the team’s efforts considering they only had one on the bench in the second half, particularly against Wattle Park who in his words were unlucky to be relegated. Despite the loss, Eley Park demonstrated some classy skill in front of the big sticks, slotting an accurate 10.1 for the afternoon.

However, Wattle Park’s experience of playing in the higher levels would show as the game progressed, with their ability to move possessions from stoppage to the outside.

Coach Glen Hopkins was also pleased by the performances of his tall forwards who provided a point of difference compared to previous seasons with Will McDonell leading the way with six goals.

It was Power House by name and Power House by nature in their Round 1 clash against Swinburne University winning out by 140 points. This sees Power House sit on top of the ladder with a whopping 975 per cent.

The game started out slowly, taking Power House a leisurely 11 minutes to register the first goal and score of the game. But from that point, it was a goal fest for the black, white and green managing to kick 24 goals throughout the match.

Chief among them was Jack Taylor-Evans who scored seven majors and Michael Timmons scoring four among Power House’s eight goalkickers for the match.

While happy with the result, Power House coach Nick Cox admitted that the scoreline may be somewhat misleading feeling that Swinburne played a lot better than what their 16 points may suggest saying “They’ll win plenty of games…they’ll be okay.”

Swinburne did suffer a similar defeat last season, losing to North Brunswick by 120 points in Round 12 but recovered the week after against Chadstone. This shows they are more than capable of regathering and putting a result like that behind them as they focus on their next match.

La Trobe University opens their 2025 campaign with a 57-point victory over Chadstone.

The Trobers managed to keep the Synners scoreless in the first quarter and only conceded three points in the first half which set the game up for them to win comfortably.

La Trobe Coach Andy Castles was quite impressed with his team’s performance considering that they played under windy conditions which somewhat limited their ability to move the ball quickly.

While the result may not have gone their way, Chadstone should be pleased that they did not give up scoring 25 out of its 41 points in the 4th quarter.

This coincided with Ledder’s players being able to play similarly to what they had done during pre-season which will give them optimism about their ability to translate their training into match play.

Even Castles was impressed on the development that Chadstone has made over the last year believing they will be a far more competitive team this season.

Richmond Central would manage a comfortable 33-point win against Box Hill North to begin their season on the right foot.

Goal inaccuracies would keep the Demons right in the match in the first half as they led at both quarter-time and half-time breaks with the Snakes kicking 2.11 compared to Box Hill North’s 5.3.

However, the Snakes were able to find their kicking boots in the second half, kicking a much more respectable 9.9 to be able to close out the match.

They were also able to hold Box Hill North to just a singular point in the third quarter although coach Michael Motta has noted they will continue to work on their defence, particularly after their first-half efforts.  

Despite the loss, there are plenty of positives that Box Hill North can take out of this game helping reconfirm to coach Beau Parthenides that his side is capable of playing finals this season.

In particular, he was pleased with the fact that they were able to play their style of ball movement for the majority of the game.

Considering that their last fixture against the Snakes saw them go down by 65 points, to have only lost by five and a half goals is a sign that Box Hill North should be able to compete against most teams in 2025.

Round Two will feature one clash between undefeated sides with Wattle Park hosting North Brunswick. Swinburne will face off against Chadstone with both teams looking for their first win for 2025. Eley Park will come up against the top-of-the-ladder Power House. Box Hill North will be looking to build on their positive performance from last week when they play La Trobe in their first home game for the season. And to finish the round, Albert Park will clash against Richmond Central. With both teams expected to be in finals contention, this should provide a good benchmark for where each team is at.