Sport
2 June, 2026
Eagles dampen Thunder spirit
A determined Eagles lineup took the Thunder by storm on Saturday, defeating the at-the-time ladder leaders by 12 points.
Led by best on ground Sam Hanna (four goals) in the forward line, Warrack recovered from a topsy-turvy game to grab the win 10.11 (71) to 8.11 (59).
The Eagles led by a point at the end of the first quarter, 2.3 (15) to 2.2 (14), but Southern Mallee had the better quarter after that, leading 6.6 (42) to 4.7 (31) at half-time.
The Kyle George-led side, with determination and grit, recovered after the big break, though, holding an eight-point lead heading into the final term, 8.9 (57) to 7.7 (49).
While the Thunder contributed 1.4 in the last quarter to their tally, Warrack managed 2.2, sealing the win.
Hanna was brilliant for the Eagles, along with Brandon Walsh and Jackson Taurau.
Billy Lloyd, Edward Lindon and Jackson Fisher battled hard all match for the Thunder, as did Matty Lloyd, who was the side's only multiple goal scorer, with three.
Eagles coach Kyle George described the win as what was needed by the side.
"It was a good one and one we needed, to beat a side that was above us on the ladder," George said.
"That was a goal we set and we were able to achieve that on Saturday."
Saying there wasn't much separating the clubs at the top this season, George said the Thunder had gotten the better of a lot of sides for a long time so the importance of the win wasn't lost on his team.
"We can take a huge amount of confidence out of the result but we need to be at our best and we have come from a long way back," the coach said.
"We have had a pretty interrupted season with byes, played a couple of weeks, another bye, another couple of games, so it has taken a bit longer than we hoped.
"But we're starting to work each other out and see improvement that has been made, along with how good the recruits can be."
Reflecting on the match on Saturday, George said the quarter before half-time was their worst, which saw them go into the big break down to the Thunder.
"It happens to all team, they have lapses during matches, and we had ours early where we let them get away from us," George said.
"But then be able to fight back in the second part of that quarter, maybe not score as much as we would have liked but at least get the game somewhat back on our terms.
"We were able to progress with that after half-time."
George said he was impressed by the pressure from his side and the willingness of a few of his players to put their hands up for positions they thought they might be better suited to play.
"We backed them and they did a great job against a top team so that was pleasing," George said.
"If they're feeling on, we'll back them 100 per cent to have a go at it."
George said he was impressed by the efforts of Hanna, who was able to be properly unleashed in the middle of the park after fighting a niggling injury over the summer and early in the season.
"He's starting to get on top of that now and was ready to go back into midfield and then moved back forward and snagged us a few goals, which was awesome," George said.
"Brandon is happy down back so we've let him play there the last few weeks, and Jackson played his usual game in the ruck.
"He's hard to beat and strong when he's wrestling, extremely physical, which is what we've lacked the last few years."
It might be a bye week, but George said the Eagles would be doing plenty of work.
"We'll have a massive week on the track," he said.
"A lot of game work and we'll run a lot and then taper it off into Tuesday week heading into Nhill."