See some of the best stats from NAB League Boys Round 9, with a stack of Oakleigh Chargers impacting the scoreboard in a big win and an Eastern Ranges ball-winner topping the competition in several categories.
THREE KEYS TO VICTORY
- The Oakleigh Chargers posted the highest score since Round 5 – 18.14 (122) – in a 57-point defeat of the Murray Bushrangers, sharing the load inside 50 with no less than 11 players recording multiple goals or score assists. Nicholas Stathopoulos and Conor Stone led the way with five majors apiece, but Fraser Elliot (five score assists), Thomas Lovell (three) and Hannin Mundy (three goals) also provided significant scoreboard impact for Oakleigh.
- In conditions made for an arm-wrestle of a contest, the Tasmania Devils were prepared to scrap their way to a 32-point triumph over the GWV Rebels. The Rebels actually won more contested possessions (+2) and clearances (+3) than Tasmania, but the Devils were relentless in their efforts to win the ball back, laying 80 tackles to 59. Oliver Burrows-Cheng recorded a game-high 10 tackles for the victors, ahead of teammate Ethan Jackson (eight).
- Even without the boots of Darcy Cassar and Daly Andrews in their line-up, the Western Jets continued to funnel the ball to designated kickers in a 42-point win against the Bendigo Pioneers. The Jets recorded a kick-to-handball ratio of 2.1 (compared with Bendigo’s 1.1), with the Western players most likely to use their damaging feet including Lucas Rocci (round-high 29 kicks/five handballs), Nash Reynolds (12/one) and Lachlan Rzanovski (11/three).
Happy Days. pic.twitter.com/rCJb1te3GO
— Western Jets (@WesternJetsFC) June 2, 2019
TOP FIVE STATS OF THE WEEK
- The Geelong Falcons were humbled by 40 points against the Eastern Ranges in Round 9, but a bright spot was the continued hard defensive work of Chas Karpala. The tough top-ager leads the competition for total tackles in 2019 and laid a game-high nine on Eastern opponents – which was actually less than his average of 9.3 per game.
- Calder Cannons ruck/forward Oscar Sasalu made his possessions count in his team’s nine-point victory over the Northern Knights. The 192cm top-ager had a game-high six clearances (alongside teammate Ned Gentile) from just seven disposals. Sasalu also recorded 15 hitouts to round out an impactful performance.
- The private-school football season and NAB AFL Under-18 Championships often present opportunities for teams’ lesser lights to step up, and Kyle Yorke is certainly doing so at the Sandringham Dragons. The 194cm top-ager created the biggest scoreboard impact of any player in Round 9, kicking 5.2 and providing three score assists in Sandringham’s 25-point win against the Gippsland Power.
- Tasmania Devils co-captain Oliver Davis – still only 16 years of age – is proving one of the competition’s most influential players entering attack. The bottom-ager has generated a round-high nine inside-50s in each of the last two weeks – including in a 25-disposal, five-score-assist performance against the GWV Rebels in Round 9 – and now leads the NAB League Boys for total inside-50s at an average of 5.6 per game.
- Vic Metro squad member Mitch Mellis (pictured) would have been hoping to run out in Saturday’s opening Under-18 Championships match, but the Eastern Ranges ball-winner responded in the best way possible against the Geelong Falcons. Mellis racked up five round-high numbers in his team’s win: 39 disposals, 23 handballs, 16 contested possessions, 23 uncontested possessions and 10 clearances.
ROUND 9 STATS LEADERS
DISPOSALS (39): Mitch Mellis (Eastern Ranges) and Riley Polkinghorne (GWV Rebels)
KICKS (29): Lucas Rocci (Western Jets)
HANDBALLS (23): Mitch Mellis (Eastern Ranges)
MARKS (12): Lucas Rocci (Western Jets) and Max Simpson (Calder Cannons)
TACKLES (15): Jonah Horo (Western Jets)
CLEARANCES (10): Mitch Mellis (Eastern Ranges)
CONTESTED POSSESSIONS (16): Mitch Mellis (Eastern Ranges)
UNCONTESTED POSSESSIONS (23): Mitch Mellis (Eastern Ranges) and Riley Polkinghorne (GWV Rebels)
INSIDE-50s (9): Oliver Davis (Tasmania Devils)
REBOUND-50s (12): Lucas Rocci (Western Jets)
HITOUTS (29): Jake Steele (Tasmania Devils)
GOALS (5): Nicholas Stathopoulos (Oakleigh Chargers), Conor Stone (Oakleigh Chargers) and Kyle Yorke (Sandringham Dragons)