Royals remain undefeated after round eight of the Great Southern Football League season

Royals extended their unbeaten streak to eight games in the 2020 Great Southern Football League season and celebrated Mitch Curnow’s 250th league game in style on Saturday at Centennial Stadium. Curnow kicked a second-quarter goal that was very popular in the 101-point win over Albany. The Lions have now won their past 22 games, their last loss coming in round three of 2019 against Railways. The reigning premiers broke the game open in the second term as they kicked eight goals to one, two off the boot from Rivah Bocian, who finished the game with five. Bocian was well supported by Paul Donaldson in the front half, the latter snaring four goals from seven scoring shots. The highlight of the second term was when Curnow kicked his goal at the 25-minute mark and every Lions teammate on the ground joined him to celebrate the moment in his milestone match. The Sharks outscored the Lions in the third term but the ladder leaders piled on seven goals in the final term to run out emphatic 20.16 (136) to 5.5 (35) victors. Tom Maslen won the match ball in Talk To A Mate Round for his impressive display across the four quarters through the midfield while Ryan Flick was close to best on ground across half-back for the Lions cleaning up everything. Joel Flick was solid in his return and Nathan Small (two goals) worked hard while Corey Ward played his first game of the season but came off in the first term. Lions coach Andrew Ruck said he was pleased with the result. “It’s just good to get through the game unscathed,” he said. “(Sharks) were really good I thought, in the first quarter, we couldn’t convert and they defended well. “I thought our older heads and experience really showed, we were strong in the contest. “Just glad to get the win and walk away without any hiccups.” Dylan Thomas battled hard in defence for the Sharks while Kieran Zilm and Luke Mowaljarlai Jr both kicked a goal and presented well in the forward half. Vince Augustson, Red Rogers and Flynn Breuker toiled hard throughout the game and Zac Pearson was their only multiple goal kicker with two. “We are playing better footy every week and you can start to tell that,” Sharks coach Jamie Ramm said. “I thought our ball movement was good and the third term was encouraging, with us outscoring them. “The boys put in a great effort till the end. “It was a better four-quarter performance and there is plenty of encouraging signs.”