Newcomb powers past Port
- Updated: April 2, 2021
Andrew Steele kicked 10 goals in Newcomb’s 128-point win over Portarlington. (Sports Media Image/Marcel Berens)
A 10-goal haul from key forward Andrew Steele and an imposing midfield performance from recruit Brenton Rees have highlighted Newcomb’s 128-point win hiding of Portarlington at Ron Evans Oval to open the 2021 BFL season.
The score (28.14.182) and margin of victory were the Power’s biggest since it kicked 31.15 (201) in a 131-point win over Drysdale in the 2007 second semi-final.
After conceding the first goal of the contest to the Demons, Newcomb kicked eight consecutive majors before a late reply late from the Demons in the opening term to open up a 38-point break at quarter time.
“After the first five minutes, the heat came out of them and we were able to play our brand of footy,” co-coach Jye Walker said following his first game in charge.
“We’ve been practising to play our brand of footy – smarter footy, more controlled footy – and we were able to do that for most of the game.
“I’m really proud of the effort. We stuck to the structures, and it allowed us to play our brand.”
Steele, who kicked 28 goals from 18 games in 2019, finished with double figures for the first time in his career, forming a potent combination with Joel Geue (six goals).
“‘Dogs’ (Geue) is on fire,” Walker said. “Dogs is 34-years-old and he’s running around like he’s in his prime.
“We’ve got a system set up for our forwards that really complements that group, and hopefully they’re going to benefit every week.”
Ex-St Joseph’s star Rees was unstoppable in the midfield and is likely to have polled the first of many Ash Medal votes.
“He’s a quality player; everyone knows that,” Walker said.
“He’s going to rack up the possessions, he’s always going to be in front of the cameras because he’s going to be running around so much with the footy in his hands.
“I’d actually like it if we have other people stealing the votes, which means everyone else is standing up.”
The only downside for the Power was an ankle injury suffered by Jake Watson in the opening term, which left him on crutches.
“We’ve got to wait for scans – there’s no info at the moment,” Walker said.
“It’s not broken, we don’t think. Maybe there’s a little hairline fracture or something like that.
“He said he heard a couple of little cracks, but it hasn’t swollen up too badly yet.
“So, we’ll just wait and see what the doctors say.”
Newcomb is likely to make two inclusions for next week’s clash with Modewarre, with Matt Walson unavailable and Steve Scolaro impressing in the Power’s impressive reserve grade win.
Twitter: @tom_king79
