Don’t get beaten by what you know is an age old saying in football, but it is much easier said than done — just ask Rochester coach Ash Watson.
He will no doubt attest to the fact after the match-winning performance of former Carlton and Kangaroos forward Jarrod Waite for Benalla on Saturday.
Ironically 40-year-old Waite was selected in the same draft as Watson in 2001.
Waite was recruited from Benalla in 2001, amazingly the same draft as Rochester coach Ash Watson. Watson was taken at number 14 and Waite at number 46 — under the father/son rule to Carlton where his late father Vin played.
The pair played against one another in what was then the TAC Cup (now Coates Talent League), Waite with the Murray Bushrangers and Watson with the Bendigo Pioneers.
In 16 seasons Waite made 244 senior AFL appearances and kicked 377 games, his best haul coming in round 11 of the 2013 season while playing for Carlton when he kicked seven majors. He matched that against Brisbane while playing at North Melborne in 2015.
For the second time this season a former AFL star dominated the Tigers, Waite kicking eight of his team’s 14 goals — including three of the Saints’ four goals in the final term as they came back from an 11-point three-quarter time deficit to win by two points.
Waite kicked three goals in the second and last quarters, finishing with an dead-eye 8.1 from 12 kicks, leading his team to a 14.4 (88) to 12.14 (86) victory.
Against Mooroopna earlier in round six former Port Adelaide and West Bulldogs giant Jackson Trengove kicked 10.1 against the Tigers.
On Saturday at Benalla Showgrounds it was Waite who was the difference between the teams that — pre match at least — occupied the bottom two rungs of the ladder.
Waite had played only four of the seven games this season with Benalla, kicking just nine goals prior to his breakout game against Rochester.
His “sleeping giant” act was similar to that of Trengove, who had kicked just 11 goals in four games before his double-figure tally against the Tigers.
Rochester now sits 11th, with only Shepparton United below it on the 12-team GVL ladder. Less than two per cent separates the pair, who alongside Shepparton Swans, have won just one of the opening eight rounds of the season.
Benalla is now ninth, having secured its second two-point win of the season, which was also influenced by Waite when he kicked six of the Saints’ 10 goals.
That was in Benalla’s round-five match against bottom-team United, a 74-72 scoreline securing it four premiership points..
Despite the result there is some light at the end of the tunnel for the Rochester outfit as it faces United and the 10th-ranked Swans after it negotiates this weekend’s match against Euroa.
Euroa seriously challenged Echuca on Saturday in a replay of last season’s grand final, but eventually lost by nine points and now sits fifth on the ladder.
Rochester has only itself to blame for the defeat to Benalla, having kicked just one goal from eight final-quarter scoring shots.
It certainly wasn’t the accuracy of key forwards James McPhee and Sean Williams that impacted the result, the pair kicking 10.1 between them.
McPhee kicked four straight and Williams 6.1, taking their season goalkicking tallies to 12 and 20 respectively.
The Tigers led by eight points at quarter time and by 14 at the long break, Joe Atley continuing an extraordinary season, which now has him averaging 29.9 disposals, seven clearances, 10 groundball gets and five tackles a game.
On Saturday he had 20 disposals (of a game-high 36) in the opening half, along with 11 of his game-high 18 clearances and five inside-50s (seven for the game, matching the exploits of Mitch Cricelli).
Atley and Cricelli were brilliant, the latter taking advantage of the absence of Benalla giant Josh Marchbank when his shoes were filled by under-18 debutant Tyler McGregor.
Cricelli not only had 48 hit outs and nine clearances, but he also had 25 disposals and 11 score involvements.
The only statistic he didn’t dominate was the scoreboard, with only McPhee and Williams (10 of the Tigers 12 goals), Kyle Waters and Dylan Cuttriss kicking goals.
Like the game the statistical count was almost a dead-heat, Rochester having just two more disposals.
There was only one difference in the tackle count, both teams had 50-plus turnovers and the inside-50 mark count was also exactly the same.
The Tigers, did, however, have much more of the ball in their forward line (49 inside 50s to 32), dominated clearances 53-35 and won the contested ball count. That should have been enough to win the game.
They were, however, beaten in the aerial contest (less marks overall) and had seven less free kicks for the afternoon. Benalla also had significantly more pressure acts, but the overall result hinged more on the Tigers kicking than any other statistic.
After this week’s Euroa game and the round-10 match with bottom-ranked United on June 17 the Tigers have a June 24 bye for the competition’s mid-season split round.
