Grovedale spearhead Tom Gillett has paid tribute to the work of his teammates up the field after equalling the club record for most goals in a senior game.
The talented 22-year-old kicked 15 goals as the Tigers proved too good for North Shore at Windsor Park, 22.11 (143) to 8.7 (55).
Star 2010s spearhead Jordan Erskine kicked 15 goals on two occasions, both against Lara, in 2014 and 2015.
“It was great. I obviously can’t do it without all my teammates,” he said
“With the midfield winning the ball so well, I couldn’t have done it without them.
“I’m super grateful.”
Gillett kicked four goals in the first quarter, four in the second, three in the third, and finished strong with five in the final term.
He gathered 20 disposals (19 kicks) and took 11 marks.
“The thing is with me, I can kick a few in a quarter, and then I won’t touch it for the rest of the game,” he said. “You’ve got to keep optimistic.
“But I kind of knew at halftime that I could get to double digits, and, yeah, it ended up working all right.”
Gillett’s previous best in a GFNL match was eight goals against St Albans in Round 2 this year.
However, he does have a 15 to his name from playing in Western Australia in 2023, a year in which he represented WA Country in a clash against South Australia Country at Optus Stadium.
However, Gillett won’t be basking in the glory of his impressive feat for long, with Grovedale turning its attention to a winnable clash with Geelong West this Saturday.
Victory for the Tigers will square their win-loss ledger at 4-4 ahead of a return meeting with St Mary’s just three weeks after being on the end of a 136-point hiding from the Saints.
“I feel like if we play as a team, as we did on the weekend, against anyone else, we’ll be all right,” he said.
“We brought the same intensity as we brought to Leopold, which was a real positive.”
Bouyed by a large crowd at Past Players’ Day, St Joseph’s has stormed home to beat Colac by nine points and consolidate a spot inside the top five.
Trailing by nine points at the 22- minute mark of the final term, three goals in the space of two minutes from Jack Mullen, co-coach James Gow, and Paddy De Grandi helped Joeys to a 10.9 (69) to 8.12 (60) victory.
The result gives last year’s beaten grand finalists an eight-point buffer on the sixth-placed Tigers.
However, St Joseph’s has played one more home-and-away game than Colac.
For De Grandi and Mullen, it was their second goals of the afternoon. Jack Jovanovic also contributed two majors.
Co-captain Adam Garner managed three goals for the Tigers.
St Mary’s blew Geelong West out of the water in the first term at Scaada Stadium on its way to a 75-point win, 19.19 (133) to 8.10 (58).
The Saints slammed on seven goals in the opening and second quarters to take an 80-point lead into the main break.
To the Giants’ credit, they outscored the reigning premier in the second half, 6.5 to 5.6, but the damage had already been done.
Grand final hero Sam Bourke kicked five goals for St Mary’s, with Lachy Peck (four goals) and Paddy Dowling (three goals) also a constant threat inside the forward 50.
Lachie Horniblow was comfortably the Giants’ best player, finishing with five goals.
A fast start from Bell Park proved the difference as it took care of St Albans by 35 points at St Albans Reserve.
The Dragons raced to a 32-point lead at quarter time, with 19 points during the second quarter the closest the Supersaints got to the visitors for the rest of the day.
Mitch Mahady, Tyler Pidgeon, Jack Sarcevic, and the returning Rhys McWaters each kicked three goals for Bell Park.
Tom Higgins took his season tally to 24 goals after a five-goal haul.
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