St Joseph’s 30-point loss to Colac on Saturday August 20 put an end to its Geelong Football League finals hopes for season 2023.
While it’s mathematically possible for Joeys to make the finals, reality is that it’s not going to happen.
They would need to thrash Geelong west and hope Newtown & Chilwell defeat Leopold by plenty. Even then, they would need to make up around 37 percentage points, which is a bridge way too far.
The win meant Colac can challenge for top spot although St Mary’s should defeat Bell Park this Saturday to win the minor premiership.
Jarrod and Dustin Walters were at their best for Colac in the round 17 win while James Hickey (24 touches) was best for St Joseph’s.
South Barwon stayed in the hunt for a double chance come finals with a win against St Mary’s.
To snatch third spot, the Swans must upset Colac and hope Leopold defeats Newtown & Chilwell.
Rowan Gough and Kelly O’Neil were best in the nine-point win while Charlie Sprague and Sam Christensen played well for St Mary’s.
Leopold pretty much guaranteed a finals spot with an 84-point win against St Albans.
Logan Wagener was best afield and had support from Harris Jennings and James Edmonds.
Sam Donegan was everywhere for the Supersaints with three goals and 31 disposals.
Newtown & Chilwell had the percentage booster it wanted with a 111-point win against Lara.
Midfielder Matthew Boag was prolific with an astonishing 47 possessions and Braden Hocking booted five goals for the Eagles and Bayley Cockerill was again good for Lara with 22 kicks and 14 handballs.
Stephen Benstead was best afield as Bell Park defeated Grovedale by 78 points.
Three goals each to Wilson Mack, Luke Ball and Harry Lear helped the Dragons to their eighth win of the season. Mitch Chafer kicked three for the Tigers.
Geelong West overcame a tenacious North Shore by seven points with David Handley (32 possessions) and Josh Dwyer (25) leading the way while Jacob Sammut-Miljevic (four goals and 28 possessions) and Cameron Anderson (three goals and 25 touches) were best for the Seagulls.
