Mourant’s seven goal haul powers St John’s to victory

After playing away for the first two rounds of the season, Whitefriars held off a fast-finishing Canterbury to claim a six-point victory at home and remain as one of three undefeated teams.

The Cobras kicked the first three goals of the game to grab an early lead, before the Friars bagged five of the next six to led by 12 points at quarter time. The home side had five different players kick a goal in the second to extend the lead to 31 at the half, before a more even third quarter saw the Friars extend their lead to a game-high 38 points at the final break.

Canterbury kicked 5.4 to 0.2 in the last quarter and could have stolen the game late with some more accurate goalkicking, but Whitefriars’ lead was too great to overcome.

“I was really proud of our efforts to come back,” Canterbury coach Steve Brown said.

“I think we were six goals down at the start of the third quarter, and I though our second half was really good – because we’ve been falling away a bit in other games. We had good numbers at training over the Easter break and I think that paid off in the last quarter.”

MHSOB handed West Brunswick their first defeat of the season, with the Unicorns running out 12-point winners at home over the Magpies.

After a relatively even first quarter, West Brunswick kicked five goals to two in the second to turn an eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead at the main break. The home side wrestled back momentum in the third, kicking seven goals to two to lead by 23 points at three quarter time.

The two teams traded goals in the final quarter, but the Unicorns did enough to hold on for their second win of the season.

MHSOB coach Bernie Pretty was glad to see his team get a win to celebrate 100 games for Mitch Pearson and 50 games for Charles Pearson.

“There were a couple of little points in the game where we had a bit of a lull and just got outplayed… and there were a few skill errors throughout that were costly. MHSOB’s pressure was really good and forced us to make mistakes,” said Magpies coach Regan Tait.

St Mary’s Salesian hit the road for the first time this year when they travelled to Ian Johnson Oval to face off against South Melbourne Districts. However, playing away didn’t seem to phase the Saints, overcoming a slow start to register a four-goal victory.

The visitors dominated the second quarter, registering 11 scoring shots to one, with a return of 4.7 meaning they could have led by far more than 24 points at half time.

The Bloods kicked four of the last five in the third quarter to get within one straight kick heading into the last. But five unanswered goals to the Saints to start the fourth meant they maintained their unbeaten start to the season while South Melbourne remain winless.

“St Mary’s are well coached, and the smaller ground played to their advantage. But it’s another week where we have improved again and will look to follow suit this week against Whitefriars,” South Melbourne coach Nick Abbott said. 

Saints coach Clay Tait was pleased with how his team responded when challenged by South Melbourne, saying the result was reward for trying to close the gap between their best and worst performances.

The seesawing nature of the game was partly due to the windy conditions at Albert Park.

“The wind was probably more influential than what I was anticipating because it wasn’t super strong, but it was going directly down the ground. The way the two teams tried to move the ball when going against the wind just didn’t work,” Tait said. 

St John’s claimed their first win for 2025 courtesy of a 62-point victory over Aquinas, who remain at the bottom of the ladder after three rounds with a percentage of just 35.8%.

The first half of the match was hotly contested, with Sam Cosham kicking two first quarter goals to help the home side hold a two-point lead at the first break. Cosham put the home side in front again late in the second quarter after kicking his third, before the Bloods conceded the next two to trail by six points at the half. Aquinas levelled the scores shortly after play resumed in the third, but the Saints lifted from that point on to kick 16 goals to five and run away with the match.

Aquinas coach Craig Glennie felt St John’s strong midfield took full advantage of the small ground at JW Manson Reserve, with Joshua Mourant kicking seven goals for the JOC’s.

“They were very good out of the middle, and with a small ground you’re having a shot from anything that comes through the square,” he said.

“I think the difference was probably the forward line – we just lacked that person who could make the most of the opportunities, whereas they had a few more scoring options.”

JOC’s coach Tim Edwards was impressed with Nicholas Beer’s performance.

“One of the boys counted his stats and I think he ended up having 52 disposals, and probably 40 of those would have been handballs from getting in and getting the ball out. He’s just an accumulator,” said Edwards.  

Hawthorn jumped out of the blocks against Old Yarra Cobras at Rathmines Road Reserve, kicking five first quarter goals to hold an eight-point lead at the first break. But the Hawks were overwhelmed in the second as the Cobras kicked 11 goals to two to set up their 52-point victory.

The dominant second quarter saw Old Yarra kick six goals in the first 10 minutes, before Eamonn Avery temporarily stemmed the flow to cut the Cobras’ lead to 21. The visitors continued to press, putting on another four goals in the next six minutes to take a 45-point lead into half time.

Old Yarra coach Nathan Monaco was pleased with how his team adjusted after quarter time, with eight of the 11 goals in the second quarter coming from clearances.

Round 4 sees Whitefriars host South Melbourne Districts and Old Yarra Cobras face off against St John’s as the Friars and the Cobras look to keep their unbeaten starts to the season alive. St Mary’s Salesian, the other undefeated team after three rounds, are back at home against MHSOB, while West Brunswick will look to bounce back against Aquinas. Canterbury is hoping the unfurling of last season’s Premiership flag ahead of their first home game against Hawthorn will help energise the team as they look to claim their first win of the season.