Heidelberg celebrated the unfurling of their 2024 Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 premiership with a statement making 130-point thumping of North Heidelberg at Warringal Park.
After a competitive opening quarter, the Tigers were relentless in attack, and produced seven, six and nine-goal terms across the next three quarters to romp to an incredibly dominant 25.14 (164) to 5.4 (34) victory over their rivals.
The club has now won their last six opening round clashes and have produced their largest Round 1 score in the 21st century. At the other end, the Bulldogs produced their lowest score since Round 10, 2023, which was also against Heidelberg at Warringal Park.
As they have showcased in recent years, Heidelberg’s win didn’t come down to a few players but rather a full team effort, highlighted by their 12 individual goalkickers.
Jack Andrew and Jordan Smith led the way with five majors apiece, Andrew illustrating his athleticism and goal sense with some brilliant marks and plays, while Smith’s run and dash left his Bulldogs opponents behind on multiple occasions.
Matthew Signorello and Dylan Clarke controlled things in the middle, and both had the ball on a string across the afternoon. Frank Rosbrook Medallist Tom Keys was just as influential with a superb performance across multiple positions.
Although the scoreboard wouldn’t demonstrate it, North Heidelberg didn’t produce a bad performance, apart from falling away in the final term.
Their intensity was strong around the contest, and they possessed an ability to transition the ball lethally from defence to attack, which was seen predominantly in the opening term. But the Tigers’ incredible pressure along with their defensive set ups, made the Bulldogs seem second-rate at times, forcing them to kick wide out of bounds on the full, or straight to a Heidelberg player in the corridor.
Three of North Heidelberg’s off-season recruits in Todd Stevenson, Fraser Thurlow and Jesse Wallin were the side’s best players for the afternoon, the latter the most impressive of the three with his ball winning ability. Jesse Tardio also carried most of the load in the midfield in the absence of Liam Hunt.
An even opening term provided hopes that this contest would be a close one. Jack Andrew kicked the opening goal of the match at the six-minute mark before Thurlow secured his first in North Heidelberg colours after converting a set shot a short time later.
Kai Kearns and Todd Stevenson then exchanged goals for either side in red time before Jordan Smith marked and goaled on the quarter time siren to establish a seven-point buffer for the Tigers at the first change.
Vin Dattoli’s men would then take complete control of the match from the moment the siren sounded to commence the second term. A goal for Nathan Honey inside just 15 seconds of play established their intent, as they went on to boot the next five straight majors to suddenly reach out to a 45-point advantage by the 20-minute mark.
Sier would be a highlight for the term, finishing with two goals, but it could have been at least three or four had it been for some more accurate goalkicking.
With a 48-point lead at the main break, Heidelberg didn’t take the foot off the gas despite Zane Souleiman kicking the first goal of the second half for the visitors.
The Bulldogs were able to take some important intercept marks in defence, led by Lachlan Smith, but their exits from defensive 50 were poor and ineffective, largely due to Heidelberg’s relentless pressure.
Continuing to create opportunities eventually led to another scoring run from the reigning premiers, who kicked six majors in an 18-minute period, putting the game to bed with an 82-point three quarter time lead.
After giving all they had in the first three quarters, Kasey Duncan’s side were unable to keep up with their opponents by the start of the final term, allowing the Tigers to inflict some further damage with a nine-goal quarter.
It was their highest scoring term since Round 9, 2024 when they kicked 10.3 vs Hurstbridge at Ben Frilay Oval, with the final margin also confirming the club’s seventh win by 100 or more points under Vin Dattoli.
