WESTERN Australia’s Under 16s took a leaf out of the book written by their Under 18 counterparts, breaking Vic Country hearts with a hotly contested two-point win, claimed by a Luke Polson goal late in the piece.

Country broke to a slight lead after a close opening term, with either side enjoying bursts of momentum to each put two goals on the board. Saverio Marafioti was electric early in the forward half, booting WA’s first goal and having a hand in their second when he bombed long to a wide open Ethan Regan inside 50. Two majors from Country big-man Josh Rentsch split them and put his side just ahead at the first break, finishing well given the conditions. With arguably the best afield player to that point, Lochlan Paton, in the rooms with a hand injury at the first break, WA needed a big lift to get back on top. Paton would come back on (and off again) despite still being troubled by that hand, and the Sandgropers soared back into the lead in a quarter played mostly in their attacking half. With fluency in ball movement hard to come by on a muddy deck, the Black Ducks’ pressure boded well for locking the ball in – with Jacob van Rooyen and Marafioti the beneficiaries in claiming the term’s only majors. The less-than-ideal scoreless quarter for Country could have been a touch different had a couple of kicks to Rentsch not fallen short, and if Blake Morris had not been so strong in the air and at ground level for WA inside defensive 50. The saving grace for the Victorians was a half time margin of just 11 points, looking manageable as conditions cleared and the ground began to dry.

It proved telling as Vic Country replied in almost identical fashion to how WA had originally broken away, keeping them goalless in the third term while piling on three goals of their own. While Ben Green’s long-range snap rolled over the line to get Country going, Lincoln White and Josh Rachele proved the true catalysts for Country’s change in fortunes – with the former snaring two terrific goals and the latter getting involved in everything through midfield to push his side forward. The Victorians entered the final break seven points in front, but the Black Duckss would kick to the scoring end to finish. They took full advantage in a tense closing term, with the ball locked into Country’s forward 50 for what seemed like an eternity after Regan booted his second goal early on. With Country unable to capitalise and only adding four behinds with all their possession, WA would go up the other end and snatch victory as Polson goaled with 90 seconds left on the clock – as if it were out of a script.

The aptly named Judd McVee (23 disposals, seven tackles) was fantastic through midfield, picking up from where Paton had left off. Kade Dittmar was not far behind with his 22 disposals, nine tackles and four clearances, with WA’s big men providing a huge edge. Morris (16 disposals, six rebound 50s), Polson (16 disposals, 14 hitouts, one goal) and Shannon Neale (12 disposals, 13 hitouts, five inside 50s) all covered the ground beautifully and had real presence.

For Country, Rachele almost proved a match-winner – leading all-comers with a classy 32 disposals, six marks and 0.3, while Ben Hobbs worked tirelessly for 29 disposals and 10 tackles. Connor Macdonald (24 disposals, three inside 50s) proved a good forward runner, with White (21 disposals, two goals) dangerous inside 50 and Campbell Chesser (21 disposals, 10 tackles) solid.

VIC COUNTRY 2.3 | 2.4 | 5.8 | 5.12 (42)
WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2.1 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 6.8 (44)

GOALS:

VC: J. Rentsch 2, L. White 2, B. Green.
WA: S. Marafioti 2, E. Regan 2, J. van Rooyen, L. Polson.

ADC BEST:

VC: J. Rachele, B. Hobbs, B. Green, C. Chesser, C. Macdonald
WA: J. McVee, B. Morris, K. Dittmar, S. Marafioti, S. Neale