GSFL 2024: Royals coach Darrell Panizza lauds midfield group and depth in 104-point drubbing of North Albany

Elated Royals coach Darrell Panizza lauded his side’s midfield group and squad’s depth after a dominant victory over North Albany on Saturday strengthened their chance of a top-two finish. After conceding the opening goal of the game, a destructive 16-goal blitz, including seven in the third quarter, lifted an undermanned Lions to their fourth consecutive victory in the 2024 Great Southern Football League season. Despite missing dominant ruck duo Brock Higgins and Stephen Beal and star ball winner Zak Mola, the classy Lions still dominated in the engine room with polish and poise. Leader of the 2024 coaches’ votes award Declan McNamara (one goal) was a clearance machine while Teague Valli (one) patrolled up and down the wing with class in their 16.20 (116) to 1.6 (12) victory. Nathan Powell was excellent in Beal and Higgins’ absence and gave the Lions midfield first use at most stoppages. “Very happy with the win, workman-like again and we’re in that period of the year where (it’s a bit tough), but we’ve been really lucky,” he said. “I think with our depth, we had (Stephen) Beal go out, so we just reverted back to Nathan Powell and he was the best ruckman on the ground by far. “Zak Mola was having a week off, and Declan McNamara just dominated the midfield and I thought Teague Valli, the opposition hit him pretty hard, and he kept going and I thought his game just showed, that he is very classy for a 17-year-old. “Our backline is playing really well and we’re rolling a few different players through there and they all seem to really gel.” The visitors struggled to make the most of their early opportunities, booting 4.12 to the long break before an entirely new side emerged onto Collingwood Park for a clinical third quarter. Ryan Lazar — one of five Lions players to snag multiple goals — booted both his majors in the blistering quarter as many of the Lions got a lick of the ice cream inside forward-50. Panizza was pleased with banking the crucial win, which puts them on equal points with ladder leaders Albany and two wins clear of Railways and Mt Barker heading into the league-wide bye. “We don’t need to take anything out of the game, the mere fact is, we’re happy to be (equal) top of the ladder, two games clear of everybody else,” Panizza said. “It’s not about anything other than the four points at this stage of the year, it’s just get the four points. “We know what we’re doing, we’re training really well, we’ve got a good program, we’ve got good people that are looking after everybody, so we just doing our stuff.” On another dark day for the Kangas, captain Nick Barrow and vice Kobi Keen relentlessly toiled while Jyrin Woods and Fynn Kelleher-Bird also sparked some life into the hosts. Graham Ross kicked the sole goal for the Kangas who lost the returning Luke Mowaljarlai to an ankle injury in the opening quarter. Kangas coach Brad Bootsma conceded his side had “gone backwards” but believed the bye comes at a good time for his club. “I reckon in the last couple of weeks we’ve gone a bit backwards. . . but it’s (bye) probably a good time to go away and have a think about their footy and where we want to go,” Bootsma said. “We are missing probably eight players who are injured who walk straight into the league side. . . when you do lose eight of your better ones it does put pressure on the club. “Getting games into other players is a good thing but the scoreboard is not good.”