Trevor Jackson
Hatherleigh 31.12 (198) d Robe 11.6 (72)
Hatherleigh was in devastating form when it hosted Robe in Round 12 of Mid South East football on Saturday.
Much of the hype was rightly centered around forward Sam Telfer, who almost rewrote the club record books.
Telfer banged on an impressive 21 goals as Hatherleigh ran rampant.
According to coach Jake Dowdy, Telfer worked hard inside 50 to gain his possessions and on a day where most clubs struggled to kick goals, with big numbers of behinds recorded, Telfer personally bucked the trend and only added one behind to his statistics.
Dowdy said it was also his first game up forward for the Eagles this year, which simply adds to the firepower.
With six first-pick players also on the bench – three of those from the forward line – it spells danger for the remainder of the season once all are fit and firing.
For the record, Telfer fell just three goals short of the club record, which is held by Craig Skeer with 24 majors.
It could have been a danger game for the Eagles, with the pointy end of the ladder tightening up.
It was also a must-win for the Roosters, as they sit outside the top four and needed the victory to keep in touch.
As it panned out it was all about the Eagles, despite the Roosters finding 11 major scores.
The Eagles’ accuracy was also impressive, with just 12 minor scores in tough conditions.
As the game unfolded, six Hatherleigh majors in each of the first and second terms put the Roosters on notice, as they had managed just four goals to that point.
The Eagles lifted after the long break and banged on another nine goals, while they saved the best for last and ran the game out in style with a further 10 majors.
Brad Mitchell chipped in with three goals for the victors.
Any other week Kaden Woodward’s effort of five goals for the Roosters in tough conditions would have been a solid return, was it not for the impressive display from Telfer at the other end of the ground.
Regarding Telfer’s performance, Dowdy said it was an unbelievable performance.
“It is probably one of the best individual performances I have seen since I have been involved in footy,” he said.
“We didn’t clear the square out or anything, he just played in the forward line along with all the other blokes and didn’t get a cheap goal.
“It was all earned by a couple of big marks and blokes kicked to him pretty well.
“He still spent 14 minutes on the bench, so he just had an incredible day out.”
Approaching the game, Dowdy was more concerned about his side’s form, rather than the opposition.
“We have great belief our best football is right up there and we know if we switch off and aren’t there on the day, any team could beat us,” he said.
“It was more about playing our style of football, being physical, playing four quarters and every individual doing what they can to help the team.”
That is how the game panned out, right through to the final term, despite a big three-quarter-time lead.
“At three quarter time I was big on seeing the game out,” Dowdy said.
“For three quarters we played really well but we have struggled to have a good four-quarter effort.
“Sometimes we seem to switch off a bit but I think it ended up our best quarter.”
As seems to be the case this season, all games are up in the air to some degree.
Dowdy said this week’s game against Tantanoola was a similar scenario.
“You look at other results and it is really hard to get a grip,” he said.
“Nangwarry beat Tantanoola, then Mount Burr beat us and only beat Tant by four points.
“The last time we played them they played some good football, especially through the middle.
“We know we have to come out and play our style of football or we won’t get the win.”
