Around The Leagues: Royals pair play part in Sharks’ first win, Woods now a Cougar and Doggies in Darkan

The Advertiser brings you Around The Leagues, taking a look at football stories of players and personalities from the Great Southern, Ongerup and Upper Great Southern regions. Local link to Sharks’ breakthrough win New South West Football League club the Dunsborough Sharks haven’t taken long to get on the board, notching their first win on Sunday in round five. Former Royals midfielder Darcy Reader was part of the Sharks winning side, as they thumped the Collie Eagles by 76 points. Also hailing from Royals in the Great Southern is the Sharks’ inaugural coach Daniel Wiseman. Ex-East Perth colts player Chris White starred in the historic win with six majors and former Eagle Nic Reid booted three majors. Railways junior Ben Higgs featured for Collie in the losing affair along with Talon Michael (Boddington) and Kye Barker (Wickepin) who played in the Upper Great Southern last year. Michael is the Eagles captain this season and Barker was named alongside Higgs in the best players in the heavy loss. Reader has joined the new outfit this season and played all four games so far, named in their best players in the round four loss to last year’s grand finalists South Bunbury – a game the Sharks led at half-time. Doopa still kicking snags Veteran goal-kicker Dionne Woods is still as deadly as ever around goals. Woods was the Great Southern Football League’s leading goal-kicker back in 2019 when he kicked 42 goals as a 39-year-old playing for Mt Barker. Last year the creative forward booted 48 goals for Katanning in the Upper Great Southern and now he’s found his way to Kojonup. In round three of the Lower South West Football League on Saturday, Woods starred for the Cougars with five goals as they upset Imperials by six points at Kojonup. Ex-Mt Barker and Railways player Kyle Smith was named in the Cougars’ best players in the narrow win. Harry Taylor, who played colts for Claremont in 2014, played his first game for the Cougars while their side also contained some familiar faces in Tom Bigwood (North Albany), Josh Crook (Denmark-Walpole) and Lachy O’Shea (North Albany). Perfect 10 for Jacky boy A 10-goal haul from Boxwood Hill forward Jack Davis guided his side to a dominant 124-point win in round three of the Ongerup Football Association on Saturday. Davis was the star for Boxwood as they recorded their second win of the season, thumping Jerramungup at Jerramungup. It was the biggest bag kicked in the OFA so far this season and Davis has 14 majors from two games to lead the competition’s goal kicking. In the other round three fixture, Lake Grace-Pingrup notched an impressive 16-point win over Newdegate. The two undefeated teams Boxwood Hill and Lake Grace-Pingrup square off in round four at Boxwood on Saturday. First women to 50 in GSFLW The Great Southern Football League Women’s competition only began in 2018 and it hasn’t taken long for the first milestone. Despite 10-round regular seasons and a couple of years affected by COVID, impressively three players will reach 50 games on Friday night. Royals pair Gracie Gibson and Hayley Ashboth plus Railways’ Ksharna Coyne will all play their 50th games of GSFLW – the first women’s players locally to reach the mark. The trio have been regulars since the inception of the women’s game and to make the occasion even better, they will play in respective semifinals. The Lions will tackle Denmark-Walpole at Retravision Stadium in their semifinal while the Tigers face Albany at Tigerland in the other final before the two winners clash in next Friday’s grand final. Doggies day in Darkan The Upper Great Southern Football League made a rare trip to Darkan on Sunday, as Wagin hosted a home game at the small country oval against Kukerin-Dumbleyung. The match wasn’t without a couple of big names, however, with the Bulldogs boasting former WAFL midfielder George Hampson. Hampson is the Bulldogs player-coach this year and he was joined in the team by ex-Essendon player Nick Kommer as their side notched their first victory of the season. Kommer was influential in his debut in the UGSFL as the Bulldogs won by 33 points while Hampson kicked a stylish goal on the run in the second term after fending off a couple of opponents. Cooper Young kicked booted four majors for the winners while ex-Victorian Dean Jamieson, who played a couple of games for Railways in the GSFL in 2016, bagged three for the losing side. Wickepin are the unbeaten side after three rounds following their tense three-point triumph over Williams on Sunday while Katanning Wanderers made it back-to-back wins as they prevailed by 40 points over Narrogin on Saturday. Got a footy story from our region to share? Email cameron.newbold@albanyadvertiser.com