Football
22 April, 2026
Smith’s 11 leads Kees over Lakers
Tanner Smith had a game to remember in his return to Kalkee, booting 11 goals to help lead the senior football side to victory over Taylors Lake in round two on Saturday April 18.
The Kees kicked 19.12 (126) to the Lakers’ 13.13 (91).
Playing at home to open their season, some swift work up the midfield from Kalkee saw Smith score a goal one minute into the game.
The forward proceeded to kick all four opening-term goals for his old junior club to give Kalkee a 28-16 lead at quarter-time.
Taylors Lake were able to match two early goals from Kalkee in the second quarter before three late goals in the quarter saw Kalkee hold a 60-30 half-time lead.
Both teams proceeded to play out a competitive and fast-paced third quarter, with the Kees slightly extending their lead (99-63).
Despite two early-final-quarter goals to the Lakers, the home side remained at least four goals in front before eventually claiming a 35-point win.
As well as Smith’s 11 goals, Clint Burdett and Jye Walter each kicked two for Kalkee.
Alex Baker led the Lakers with five goals while Deek Roberts kicked three.
For the Kees, Matthew Magee, Matt Nield, Doug Grining and Andy Devereaux were among the best on field alongside the forward combination of Smith and Walter.
For the Lakers, Max Kamstra and Dylan Bates were strong in the midfield, with Billy Finnigan, Riley Hall, Koby Westerland and Baker also being among the best.
Kalkee coach Clint Burdett said he was happy with the how team executed their forward entries while praising Smith for converting most of his opportunities.
“We’ve been working really hard on our forward entries,” Burdett said.
“Obviously having a key focal point like Tanner, which is what we were lacking, it’s helped massively.
“The conditions were favourable, both sides moved the footy pretty well into both forward lines and we were fortunate enough to get Tanner on the end of a few of ours.
“To end up with 11 goals, it was a very good performance for him.”
Although his side held the lead for the majority of the game, the Kalkee coach said the Lakers kept the pressure on all game.
“Taylor's Lake are a good outfit and it was a good four-quarter tussle,” Burdett said.
“We sort of broke away a little bit and they clawed their way back into the game and, credit to them, they pushed us all the way.”
Burdett added that there were strong contributions across the park that helped the side open their season with a win.
“Jye Walter was great, clean with the footy; he was fantastic,” he said.
“Will Drummond built his way into the game.
"His first half was pretty quiet and then he really got into the game and found his spot through the midfield.
“Looking at some of our older players like Andy Dev, Matty Magee and Matty Nield, they played brilliant games too, so it was a really good mix of youth and senior blokes that helped us get the win.”
