Football
3 June, 2025
Nhill secures second spot with 16-point win
Nhill recorded their third win in a row on Saturday in the Wimmera Football Netball League, while the Southern Mallee Thunder lost their third on the trot.
Just one point down at half-time, the Thunder had their chances for the win, but fell short in the end; 17.6 (108) to 14.8 (92).
Nathan Alexander, Jake Harrap and Deek Roberts were in brilliant form for the winners, while Jake Garvey, Jarrod Stokes and Sam White battled hard all day for the Thunder.
Leading goal scorers for each side were Drew Schneider (Nhill), with four, and Rupert Sangster (Thunder) with three.
Asked if he was happy with the performance of his side on Saturday, coach of Nhill, Jake McQueen, said: "Bloody oath, it was a good performance from the team.
"The Thunder are a good outfit and they had a good team in this week."
Heading into the game, McQueen said there was a focus on his side's offence.
"We feel like we are pretty set with our back seven, we just needed to move the ball quickly so they couldn't set up behind the footy and get a score on the board," he said.
McQueen was pleased his side showed some grit when challenged by the opposition.
"Last year we had a few games like that as well where we ended up getting on top," he said.
"So I think we have learned from last year and brought it into this season, that never-give-up attitude, which is pleasing from a coach's point of view."
McQueen said Alexander, the side's full back, did a commendable job.
"Darcy Reid also played a ripper game, and then just the normal players played well," he said.
McQueen said he was always hopeful for a season's start like this but he hadn't forced any pressure on his side.
"We know we are good enough and I think we are starting to believe that more and more every game, which is good," he said.
"Who knows: we feel like that was our first game we have played nearly four quarters of footy, whereas every other game we have probably only played a couple of quarters, so there is still a bit of improvement left in us, which is even more of a positive."