General News
14 June, 2022
Dwyer impresses on debut
FIRST-GAMER Gryff Dwyer had an excellent debut as Cobden Bombers secured their third victory of the 2022 campaign with a solid win away at Terang Mortlake.
FIRST-GAMER Gryff Dwyer had an excellent debut as Cobden Bombers secured their third victory of the 2022 campaign with a solid win away at Terang Mortlake.
“We had Liam Loubey pull out with a broken hand, so Gryff came in to play his first senior game,” said Cobden coach Dan Casey.
“It looked like he’d already played 100 games, he was really good in the first half.
“Obviously his legs got a bit tired in his first game of senior footy, but he did really well in the back pocket. Our whole back six did really well in those conditions.”
The Bombers had an excellent first half, outscoring the Bloods 6.9 (45) to 1.2 (8) before a resurgent Terang Mortlake fought back in the third term to claw back the deficit to 32 points.
But Cobden wouldn’t be denied, piling on another 28 points in the fourth quarter to win 13.17 (95) to 7.9 (51).
Jack Hutt had an impressive six-goal haul, while Matt Kemp added two goals and was named best on ground for his side.
Defender Christian Koroneos continued his run of form, repelling the Bloods’ attacks all game and dominating the air in the Bombers’ backline.
Casey praised his players’ efforts throughout the game despite wanting a better rate of conversion in front of goal.
“Our first half pressure around the footy was really good, we would have had 35 tackles in the first quarter, and we used the ball really well,” he said.
“We had a lot of scoring opportunities and forward entries, but we could have put more through the big sticks.”
A lapse of concentration from the Bombers allowed Terang Mortlake to get back into the contest in the third quarter, but Casey said his side responded well to his three-quarter time talk.
“They put a lot of pressure on us in the third quarter, but to our boys’ credit they were able to swing the momentum back late in the third, kicking a couple of goals right before the siren.
“I gave them a little bit of a rocket at three-quarter time, and they went out and kicked the first three in the last quarter, so that was really positive.”
The Bombers go to Warrnambool this week to face South Warrnambool, who sit second on the ladder after a big win away against Portland on the weekend.
Casey said he would focus his players on improving on their first-round performance against the Roosters, where they lost by 54 points.
“We’ll put that score up on the whiteboard through the training session to give them an indication. We want to do better than we did in round one,” he said.
“We had one poor quarter in that game and they kicked a heap of goals against us in that period.
“They’re a good side, a really tall side with a strong midfield, but if we can play the way we played for three of the four quarters against North Warrnambool, anything’s possible.
“I always look forward to Saturday to see what the boys will put on the park.”
Casey said his goal was to see the team maintain its momentum regardless of the result.
“We’re at the halfway mark and still getting 40-plus players on the training track, so we want to keep that going for the rest of the season,” he said.
“We don’t want it to drop off after a tough game. The momentum’s been going onto the field, I’ve seen it changing through the season and the boys can see it too.
“It’s exciting times. At the start of the year everyone was saying we probably wouldn’t win even one game, but we’ve won three and come close to Hamilton and a few other good sides.
“We want to build on the wins from earlier in the year and try to get a few extra ones on the way home.”
