Adam De Cicco dominated the midfield structure as he often tends to do, sitting right in the middle of the Bears’ movements, while Ash Holland ruled the roost in the ruck once again.
On a day when the second-placed side notched 149 points, though, another elite contributor in Joel Brett rose above to claim honours in a giant win.
Joel Brett breaks it open v Mansfield
Disposals: 31
Inside 50s: 8
Score involvements: 17
Pressure acts: 7
Goals: 6
It was a well-oiled machine as you would expect given Shepparton’s track record this season, as the visitors took Mansfield to task from the outset in a dazzling display.
Brett was the third-most prolific ball-winner on the day, eclipsed only by De Cicco’s 36 touches and the 34 disposals of Bears co-coach Xav Stevenson.
Thirteen contested possessions were good enough for equal-second on the day — again behind De Cicco.
A whopping tally of 17 score involvements — featuring a casual 11 goal involvements alongside — was unparalleled in the afternoon’s action, while Brett’s bag of six majors and seven pressure acts were game-highs (the latter tied alongside Jacob Watts).
Shepparton had basically settled matters on the scoreboard by quarter-time following a stanza that had netted 14 scoring shots to two, with Brett’s pair of early goals critical in the ambush.
Within that huge pile of score involvements was a handy contribution of nine in the opening term alone as the Bears wasted no time flexing their muscle.
With four snags to his name by the half-time siren, Brett had put most of his runs on the board early amidst another 11 touches in what had long since become a comfortable stroll for his side.
It was a comparatively quieter third term as far as finding the ball for Brett, with ‘only’ seven touches to go with his three forward 50 entries and goal number five as the margin pushed well beyond 60 points.
The cue was largely in the rack as Brett collected just a pair of disposals in the final half-hour, but even the one kick he claimed was good to complete his half-dozen between the big sticks with 185 ranking points overall.
This wealth of riches has hardly hurt Brett’s chances of being included in an end-of-year team of the season after only narrowly missing out on last week’s Premium Wednesdays mid-season edition.
After this demolition, Brett now sits in the league’s top 15 for almost every vital offensive metric, now averaging a formidable 8.5 score involvements and 5.1 goal involvements a game.
14°C