Round 5 saw a winless Whitford venture south to the hallowed turf of MCG1 to take on an undefeated University A colt’s team.
The first quarter began as many expected, Uni jumped out of the blocks fast through some classy centre bounce work from Matthew Turkich and Cuba Cellier. Constant pressure on the ball carrier led to multiple repeat entries for the home side which saw them slot through five majors in the first 15 minutes. The final 5 minutes was a more even affair, Whitford fought back and gained some territory through some shrewd defensive work. Their effort paid off with a goal right before the quarter time siren.
The second quarter was very much like the first, Uni would take the ball out of the middle and either kick a behind, or a goal. Perhaps most impressive was University’s ability to transition the ball from one end of the ground to the other at will. Their elite skills by hand and foot sliced through Whitford’s defence, putting constant pressure on their back six. Perhaps equally as impressive, to half time Uni had kicked nine goals, from eight different players. A 50-point margin at the main break was what faced a ‘backs-against-the-wall’ Whitford side.
The third quarter, once again, I’ll step it up. A determined University side played with an exceptional level of flare and physical brilliance. Their mental fortitude to continue peppering the goals, despite the lack of accuracy on the scorecard, was something to behold. Kiya Jellay’s clean ground ball pick up and polished running bounce saw him slot through his first goal of the year, causing the crowd to explode into pure exultant joy. The highlight of the quarter came late in the term. University’s leading goal kicker Sonny Arangio received a high tackle free kick, 45 metres out, directly in front of goal. William Wildberger decided to take advantage of a slack Whitford’s defence and play on from the free kick. He duly placed the ball somewhere in between a tree and the far most point post, from 30 metres out, directly in front. Will then proceeded to smile, and trot happily back towards his position at full back. University received zero points from Will’s shot at goal, if that wasn’t clear enough.
The fourth quarter saw Burbury and Cellier, both inside midfielders, slot through their second goals of the game, and Arangio kicked his third. The University A colts cruised to a 95-point victory, notching up their fifth win of the year to remain undefeated on the season. Whitford had no answers for their phenomenal ball movement and their consistent physical pressure. An outstanding win for a team that is humming right now. They now look towards a strong Curtin Wesley team next weekend at Wyong Reserve.
Best Players:
Harry Burbury is so back. A knee injury derailed his plans for playing in Round 1, he returned in Round 2, but it wasn’t the Larry Burbury we became so used to seeing in 2024’s campaign. He has taken a few weeks to build both his fitness and his form, but after Saturday’s performance against Whitford, he left the competition in no doubt, that Larry Burbury is back. He racked up numerous clearances in the midfield and capped it off with two goals. With a total of five shots on goal for the game, you could say he left points out there, but I don’t care. He’s back…
Cuba Cellier has had a white-hot start to the 2025 season and he continued his hot form with another terrific performance against Whitford. It was a great day to be a midfielder, with Uni holding the ascendency in the ruck all day, it gave Cellier ‘Michelin Star’ rated hit outs to run onto. The skipper leads from the front, he’s tough and he’s physical, but has silky skills on both sides of his body. Cellier’s two goals to go with what must have been 30 disposals got him close to another best on performance…
Brodie Gould hated Saturday. He could be heard saying, “What’s the point of me being here, the ball doesn’t come down here anyways?” So as you can imagine, I’m sure Morcombe loved hearing that level of enthusiasm from one of his star users off half-back. Despite the complete lack of love for football shown by Gould on Saturday, he actually played very well. When he was near the footy, he ran hard to get on the end of many handball receives, leading to countless inside 50 entries for University. Gould’s use by hand and foot landed him smack bang in the middle of the best players, in the face of such overwhelming negative energy, Gould found a way to still play well. What a talent…
University defeated Whitfords 15.14.104 to 1.3.9
Goals
3. S. Arangio. 2. C. Cellier, H. Burbury. 1. L. Poulson, T. Marsden, M. Ness, M. Ghiselli, R.
Bignell, W. Parker, J. Campbell, K. Jellay.
Best
H. Burbury, C. Cellier, M. Turkich, B. Gould, L. Poulson, M. Ness