Beautiful playing conditions this week; a nice dry and firm field and not a breath of air made for excellent footy weather. A pleasant drive home from Mentone if you took the scenic route and got some of that winter sunsets over the horizon. The drive there, not so much.

St Bedes are sitting very comfortably at the top of the divisional ladder, and rightly so, with some incredible talent coming through their ranks and feeding into the AFLW teams. The Renegades ran out with the odds not in their favour, with Mentone so far undefeated. Their percentage is at 1100%, and they are just under 1000 ahead of their nearest competitor. Few teams can boast even a goal against this mighty opponent. In our last clash with them in round 5, the Reno’s were only able to get a point on the board, so it was going to be a tough day at the office!

A good team can bring out the best in their competition, which was certainly the case for the seniors this week. The bar was set high in the first quarter with Mentone scoring early, but with the experience in the midfield from Maddie Lakos and Woodhouse, we saw some intense pressure allowing the ball to slip out to Sash on the wing. Always ready to take advantage of an opportunity, Sash kicked to space where Gabe came rocketing through, collecting the Sherrin en route and punting it through for a much-needed morale boost. You could tell by the surprised look on the St Bedes players, they weren’t used to being scored against like that.

A good goal built the energy which Snowy kept fuelling with heavy defence through the centre half. Shelly also stepped up and applied pressure to the midfield like it was an open wound. The game’s intensity was ripe, and players were quick to shut down opportunities. We saw some brave smothering by Goosey, who barely flinched when she jumped on that grenade of a ball coming off the boot. Always a selfless player.

Little M (Emily Molnar) was hungry for a goal, sweeping along the wing and taking on her opponents to get ever so close to Brunswick’s second goal, falling just shy of the mark. Not to be defeated, she backed it up with relentless defence. Mentone were coming in strong, and by the second half, the score was creeping up, but Brunswick never gave up. This was highlighted by absolute powerhouse Dani Hagan. Our Reserves Captain has been playing up in the last few weeks, proving she’s got what it takes. With a swift goal off the left foot under a three-person tackle to secure Brunswick’s second goal.

It may not look as impressive on the scoreboard, but two goals against this team is a pretty fair effort, and the seniors should hold their heads high.