Leopold has maintained its recent dominance of 2023 grand final opponent South Barwon to remain in striking distance of a double-chance finish.
The Lions extended their winning streak to five against the Swans thanks to a 47-point victory at McDonald Reserve that had striking similarities to last year’s decider.
Against a youthful South outfit, Leopold exerted its physical advantage in the 16.9 (105) to 9.4 (58) victory while also unveiling a new mantra dubbed LEDGE – Leopold Edge – by coach Garry Hocking.
“When you have two games against teams that are down the bottom, you can lose your mojo a little bit,” Hocking told krockfootball.live.
“The Edge is something that we’ve been trying to build on, and we didn’t have that for a quarter-and-a-bit against Joeys, and we lost it against Bell Park, and they were too good on the day.
“But, the last two weeks, we’ve gone to work, both in training and also (on) game day.
“Irrelevant of who we’re playing against … we just wanted to get back to knowing what we can do as a footy team and as a footy club.”
Leopold’s recent ability to make it hard for South Barwon to score continued.
The Swans haven’t reached double-figure goals against the Lions since 2017.
“South Barwon play a style that we know and the confidence that has grown out of the grand final,” Hocking said.
“We’ve been in their heads the last couple of times and the grand final last year.
“There’s a certain way they play and a certain way that you can stop them, and we just wanted to try and get them long down the line.
“If you can stop a team from chipping the ball through you and going out the other side and force them long down the line, it plays into what we feel is our strength.”
Brock Williamson impressed as one of three Lions to kick three goals, joining Will Sheahan and Connor Giddings.
Captain Marcus Thompson was also impressive on his 29th birthday.
Skipper Matt Caldow worked hard for his three goals for South Barwon, which listed Doyle Madigan and Paddy Kelly as their best.
Elsewhere, Grovedale caused the upset of the GFNL season and drove a dagger through the heart of finals hopes of Newtown & Chilwell with a seven-point win at Burdoo Reserve.
With just one victory – against the winless St Albans – to their name, the Tigers overcame being headed in the final term to claim the four points, 11.8 (74) to 9.13 (67).
In a see-sawing affair, the Eagles snatched the lead with two goals to start the final term.
However, Grovedale wouldn’t be denied, with late goals from Mitch Chafer and Nick Hau getting the home team over the line.
Chafer was a standout, finishing with four majors.
In his first match since the opening-round clash with North Shore, Liam Fiore kicked two goals for the Towners, who are now three games adrift of fifth-placed Colac.
Adam Garner and Luke Hillman kicked eight goals apiece as Colac handed St Albans another hiding, 28.16 (184) to 6.1 (37) at Central Reserve.
It was Hillman’s first senior appearance of the season, while Garner took his season tally to 43 – 13 clear of South Barwon star Fraser Fort.
Dustin Walters also kicked four goals.
Ethan Guida, Harrison Cockerell and Hayden Elliott each kicked two goals for the Supersaints.
Five goals from former Richmond AFL rookie Kaelan Bradtke highlighted an 85-point victory by Bell Park over Lara at Hi Sushi Oval.
The Dragons had access to the Geelong VFL-listed forward in last week’s loss to South Barwon with the Cats having the bye.
However, the health of Geelong’s AFL list meant he wasn’t required for VFL duty this week.
The Worme brothers were also impressive in the 17.17 (119) to 2.12 (24) result.
Mitch Day and Sam Hoffman were the lone goalkickers for the struggling Cats.
St Mary’s pushed its percentage past 300, handing North Shore a 139-point thrashing at Windsor Park.
The Saints took control of the contest with an 8.3 to 2.1 opening quarter and never looked back in recording a 24.24 (168) to 4.5 (29) victory.
Harry McMahon stood out for St Mary’s with a six-goal haul, while Nick Minchin and Lachy Peck contributed three.
Nathan Arbon and James Chadwick battled hard for the Seagulls.
X: @krockfootball
