Even without Jess Sinclair, who was ruled out with back spasms in the warm-up, the Tigers were a class above for the vast majority of the match.
Dale Nolan was again too good for the Panthers’ undersized backline, booting seven goals in addition to his nine in Round 1 against Eltham.
Despite fielding a largely makeshift line-up, Panthers coach Brett Weatherald refused to cite their growing casualty list as a reason for what he labelled a “disgusting” performance.
“Sure we’ve got quite a few injuries but [other] clubs are the same, honestly when we picked the side we looked at the board and we were happy with it,” Weatherald said. “So it isn’t an excuse at all. Heidelberg were just far too good, a lot more disciplined and well-structured than what we were.”
After three successive losses, Eltham has now slipped to fifth on the ladder and risks undoing much of its early season good work if it can’t regroup in the coming weeks.
Contrastingly, the Tigers sit at the top of the table, aided by healthy percentage boosts against Whittlesea and now the Panthers.
Unsurprisingly, Tigers coach Ryan Smith was upbeat with his charges’ dominant display and added that the blowout margin provided a number of fringe players with a chance to get some quality game-time.
“We just wanted to get some of our players who have been spending some time on the bench some extended time in the midfield,” he said. “So we just threw Danny [Nolan] forward and ran some of the young guys through the midfield and they were super… [Jess Sinclair’s loss before the game] just made it easier to give the guys on the bench more of a run really.”
From the outset, it was apparent that Eltham was trying to play a game of keepings-off and in the first term it worked. The Panthers were committed to chipping the ball sideways in a bid to starve the home team of possession. Ultimately however, this became slow and predictable, and played right into Heidelberg’s hands.
Eltham trailed by eight points at the first break, but registered just one behind between then and early in the fourth term to Heidelberg’s 13 goals.
The turning point came in the opening minutes of the second quarter when Brendan O’Sullivan and Andrew Hughes were given their marching orders in quick succession. From then on the away team looked a spent force; the loss of O’Sullivan in particular really hurt their ability to run and win clearances.
Almost as if Heidelberg was toying with its undersized, undermanned opponents, the contest became one not too dissimilar from a basketball half-court one.
At every semblance of an Eltham forward thrust, a Tigers runner, often Blair Harvey, would thwart it and propel the ball high and long into Dale Nolan’s Velcro-like hands.
There were very few easy possessions for Eltham’s outside movers, as Heidelberg inflicted intense physical pressure in the clinches. As a result, the Panthers’ turnover count was, in their frustrated coach’s words, “astronomical.” The first eight minutes in the third term brought about eight direct turnovers, reflecting the way the game was played for much of the day.
Weatherald defended his team’s high-possession, low impact style of play: “We knew that we couldn’t just bomb the ball [in] with Heidelberg’s bigger bodies. It is very hard because they like to play a fast brand of football and control the ball, which they are very good at … You cannot be competitive in a game of footy when you have as many turnovers as we did.”
Further souring the loss for the Panthers was a suspected broken leg for key playmaker Andrew Sturgess. The rover seemingly fracturing a bone in his left shin while taking a strong mark, before astonishingly taking his kick then hobbling off with the support of trainers.
For Heidelberg, this result sends ominous warnings to any would-be challengers. The way in which it was able regularly to isolate the Nolan brothers, despite Eltham’s numbers behind the ball, was fantastic.
Conversely, Eltham is in a rut. Crippled by injuries to key players such as Jackson Weatherald, Brad Perry and now Sturgess, the early season drive is now just a fond memory for a club which looked to be a certain finals contender just a month ago. Its position is perilous, and its form wavering.
“I’ve asked every player to watch the replay of today’s game and give me a written report during the week. We have an opportunity with what stage of the year it is to get back on the bike and go again,” Brett Weatherald said.
Yet it won’t get any easier for the Panthers next week as they host in-form Montmorency, a team which they narrowly defeated in Round 2, in what was a pulsating and fierce contest. That day Jackson Weatherald booted seven, next Saturday he is likely to be an onlooker as he battles to overcome injury.
In contrast, The Tigers should make it five successive wins when they meet Lower Plenty in Round 11, a team which is languishing at the foot of the table, despite spirited performances in recent weeks.
If only Eltham could swap its fixture with Heidelberg’s, then there would be light at the end of the tunnel for the injury-riddled team that looked every bit a finals contender not long ago.
How quickly things change.
Final score: Heidelberg 21.19 (145) defeated Eltham 3.4 (22)
Follow Tom Morris on Twitter @tommorris32
