Sport / Football
NOBs finals chances blown away by big loss
Brunswick NOBs 8.2 (50) lost to St Mary’s Salesians 23.18 (156) at Ferndale Park
Tim Purdey
Brunswick’s wafer-thin chances of contending for finals action in 2026 went up in smoke at leafy Ferndale Park on Saturday with an insipid performance against St Mary’s Salesian, who helped themselves to a percentage boosting 106-point win.
The result saw the NOBs drop to seventh place on the 10 team ladder with five rounds left in the season.
Brunswick arrived in Glen Iris on a glorious winter’s day fresh from a week off and with it all to play for against a team they should have beaten in Round 3 – and who were only two points ahead of them on the ladder – but it was the Saints who bounced out of the gates and the game was over as contest by quarter-time.
The early signs were ominous as the ball lived in the home side’s forward line with Brunswick unable to find an exit. Harried defenders were continually turning the ball over in the corridor only to see it fly back over their heads and it could have been worse than 6.5 to a solitary goal (through Jackson Davis) for the term.
A strong response was needed to start the second quarter, but it was the Saints who slammed through the opening two goals to stretch their lead to 50 points only seven minutes into the term, before Davis kicked his second from distance and Liam Allman then hit the scoreboard.
These efforts were quickly cancelled out by the home side, as their big full forward Macmillan notched his fifth major and another couple were added to make it a 10 goal margin, before the Bens – Wilson and Young – both kicked truly to add a modicum of respectability in the shadows of half-time.
Any hopes of a second half fight back were obliterated, however, by an early avalanche of Saints six pointers as most interest in the crowd turned to how many the straight-kicking Macmillan might end up with, as he added another three to make it eight goals. Meanwhile the NOBs didn’t trouble the scorers, as the margin blew out to 96 points at the final change.
The last quarter saw a more competitive effort from Brunswick as Davis snapped his third, Young his second, then Will McKenzie pressed forward to mark on the goal line. But the Saints still took the honours for the term and Macmillan did get to double figures in the dying stages to crown an absolute thrashing for the NOBs.
On a disappointing day, Will McKenzie was far-and-away Brunswick’s best player, leading the defence with aplomb. The dangerous Jackson Davis can also hold his head up, while Tahj Haddock battled hard down back and Ben Young was good in the ruck and when he went forward.
The NOBs’ next challenge is Preston away this Saturday, but they can draw on the fact that they pushed the competition leader right to the line when they met earlier in the season at Gillon Oval.
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