Bears Lagoon-Serpentine's hopes of winning the LVFNL flag have suffered a major body blow.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Star full-forward Josh Mellington requires surgery on his injured hamstring and is unlikely to return this season.
"It looks like Josh's season is pretty much done,'' Bears' coach Jake Wilkinson said.
"There's a small chance he could get back right at the end (of the season), but that's very doubtful.
"It's a hamstring tendon tear and it needs to be repaired (via surgery). He had a similar injury a couple of years ago."
The former Fremantle Dockers forward had kicked 93 goals in nine games for the Bears before he injured his hamstring in last week's win over Pyramid Hill.
Initially, the injury was thought to be a standard three-week hamstring, but scans confirmed the worst for the Bears.
While admitting Mellington's absence was a bitter pill to swallow, Wilkinson said the Bears have the depth to remain competitive with the teams at the top.
"We're a good team and one person goes down and the next one steps up,'' Wilkinson said.
"It's disappointing for Josh because he's really enjoyed his footy here and he'd played some really good footy.
"It was great to have him in the league. He was having a great battle with Sharly (Lachlan Sharp) for the goalkicking (award).
"Both of them could have broken records this year."
In their first game without Mellington on Saturday, the Bears proved too good for Inglewood, 13.9 (87) to 4.6 (30).
Centre half-forward Andrew Gladman kicked four goals for Serp, while half-back Tyler Miles and midfield/forwards Farran Priest and Justin Laird were impressive.
The Blues were competitive around the footy, but the Bears were more efficient in the wet going forward.
Cody Stobaus, Thomas Kennedy, Luke Matheson and Daniel Polack were named best for Inglewood.
MARONG v NEWBRIDGE
Marong celebrated Kain Robins' 450th senior game with a 59-point win over Newbridge on a soaked Malone Park.
With his two children by his side, Robins led the Panthers out on the ground and through a banner to mark his milestone.
On a tough day to be a key forward, Robins kicked one goal and had a hand in a couple of others.
Marong coach Linton Jacobs was pleased with the way his side handled the heavy conditions.
"On the room's side of the ground you wanted to be a duck - it was underwater,'' Jacobs said.
"I can't remember us having a day like that for two or three years. It was scrappy and it was a willing contest.
"Newbridge were fierce at the contest early and we took a little bit to get going. From late in the first quarter we started to control the game.
"To keep them to seven goals, after they kicked four in the first quarter, and for us to kick 16 in those conditions was really pleasing."
Youngsters Jack McCaig, Lachlan Lee, Lachlan Frankel and Jai Gretgrix relished the wet track and were instrumental in Marong's win, while Noah McCaig was the leading goalkicker with four.
A 10-goal loss could never be regarded as a win, but for Newbridge it was a win of sorts.
In a tight battle with Inglewood and Calivil United for fifth spot and a place in the finals, the Maroons limited the damage to their percentage.
They started the round with a percentage of 66.78 and finished with 64.42 - still 8.11 ahead of Inglewood, which has a game in hand.
The 59-point margin was a 98-point improvement from when the two teams last met.
When they played in round two, Newbridge only kicked two goals for the day in a 157-point hiding.
Tom Hobson, Ben McKinley, Matthew McArthur and Kobe Friswell were best for a Newbridge side that was missing several experienced players.
BRIDGEWATER v MGYCW
Bridgewater consolidated second spot on the ladder after defeating a plucky MGYCW by 59 points.
The Mean Machine blew the game open early by kicking eight goals in the opening quarter, but never really hit top gear after that in the 18.8 (116) to 8.9 (57) win.
Star forward Lachlan Sharp needed 14 goals to reach his century for the season, but the wet conditions and some heavy defensive pressure from the Eagles "limited" Sharp to five goals.
He'll need nine goals against Inglewood next week to reach the ton.
"It was a pretty scrappy day and we walk away with a win,'' Bridgewater co-coach Rick Ladson said.
"The boys were okay. We adapted well to the conditions early and the game tapered out a bit after that thanks to the weather.
"I thought we did a pretty good job."
Bridgewater's best players were largely through the middle of the ground.
With key on-ballers Harry Donegan and Bo Alexander sidelined through injuries, Jack Symons relished time in the midfield and was best for the Mean Machine.
Lee and Jon Coghlan showed their class in the wet, while Ladson was impressed with the performance of young ruckman Oliver Watt.
Josh Martyn kicked six goals to be the best forward on the ground.
MGYCW got better as the game wore on.
The Eagles were staring down the barrel of a triple figure margin after the first quarter onslaught, but they worked their way into the game and were competitive for the final three quarters.
The Eagles only had two fewer scoring shots than Bridgewater in the final three quarters.
The 10.6 to 7.7 scoreline after quarter time should give MGYCW some confidence heading towards the back-end of the season.
Josiah Farrer, Mathew Crooks, Mitch Whitham and Thomas Pridgeon were best for the Eagles.
CALIVIL UNITED v PYRAMID HILL
Pyramid Hill finally found its range in front of goal in Saturday's 14-goal win over Calivil United.
After several of their previous nine games were riddled with inaccuracy, it took the worst conditions of the season so far to bring out the best of the Bulldogs' kicking.
They booted 7.12, 18.17 and 16.22 in the previous three rounds before slamming home 21.8 (134) in the wet to Calivil's 7.8 (50).
"We were able to get some good looks at goal from 25m-30m out on good angles and we executed well this week,'' Pyramid Hill coach Nathan Fitzpatrick said.
The star of the show was forward Jesse Sheahan, who kicked nine of his side's 21 goals.
"Jesse was brilliant, he took some really good marks considering the conditions,'' Fitzpatrick said.
"He probably had six goals in the first half and he's one that would probably put his hand up to say he'd hadn't kicked overly straight in the first half of the season.
"He's been working tirelessly on his goalkicking, so it's good to see him get some reward."
Midfielder Ben Knight continued his strong mid-season form for the Dogs.
"Looking back on the loss to Serpentine last week we acknowledged that we weren't overly great in the midfield in terms of work rate and contested work.
"We had some pretty robust conversations through the week and to the whole midfield's credit they were very good today in their ability to run both ways and stoppage work.
"Ben (Knight) was the one who stood out, particularly in the first half where his work around stoppage was excellent."
The Demons were good early, but an eight-goal-to-two second quarter from the visitors put the game to bed.
Cody Thompson, Hamish Wall, Ronan Sheehan and Sam Maher battled hard for Calivil United in the sloppy conditions.
