Round 3 Match Reports (2025)

The Huge Midday Show made their long-awaited return to the pristine home deck of Tony Sheehan Oval to take on the reigning premiers, Richmond Central. The boys knew this would be a hard-fought contest all day to take it up to the division powerhouse. There was excitement in the rooms as we welcomed two debutants Sam Scala-McNeill and Harry Skantzos, as well as welcoming back Josh ‘Hords’ Horder from a hiatus from the club.

La Trobe took up the challenge set to them by Coach Cal Randell before the game and hit the first 10 minutes with a huge level of pressure and determination. Big, repeated tackles by Finlay ‘Knights’ Stewart set the tone and had ‘The Snakes’ shaking in their boots and rattled early. A layer of dew on top of the hallowed turf made clean possession challenging, with a few deep entries by skipper Austin ‘Aussie’ Bennett giving the Trobers some early chances but to no avail. A 5-minute lapse in concentration at the end of the first quarter allowed ‘The Snakes’ to strike and convert two majors before the first break.

The second term saw some more free-flowing ball movement by both sides, where the boys were able to utilise our key game-plan components of spread, switch and overlap. The quicker ball movement allowed Ruben ‘Rubes’ Cottee to send a deep entry into forward 50, where Cal Randell converted a snap around the body through the big ones to open the Trobers’ account. Again, a 5-minute lapse in concentration opened the door for Richmond Central as they piled on two majors in quick succession. The boys locked down hard and wrestled back some momentum, leading to some quick ball movement, and a spearing ball from Lachy Randall to Cal Randell gave him a comfortable set-shot, giving him his second of the day. As the half-time siren went for the main break, the Trobers’ energy was palpable, and excitement was building as we trailed the reigning premiers by just 17 points in a two-goal apiece quarter.

As the dew subsided from the glorious deck to start the second half, the ball moved substantially quicker, giving the young Trobers a tough challenge early. ‘The Snakes’ gained outright control and momentum early as our superstar back six, led by Campbell ‘Benny’ Luck and Ben ‘Campbell’ Peters were under constant assault by the hard-running Richmond Central outfit, giving them multiple repeat entries as they piled on 5 quick goals. Debutant Sam Scala-McNeill announced his presence on the game with some huge, contested marks and high IQ switches across the ground, opening up space for the hard runners in Lachlan ‘Pikey’ Pike and Mr. Reliable Ben ‘Freo’ Freeman. Yet another dominant contest mark by Sam Scala-McNeill allowed him to show off his left foot as he slotted his first goal for the Trobers and our only for the term as we trailed by 41 points heading into the last.

Coach Cal gave the final address, imploring the boys to dig deep and fight until the end. Versatile big-man James ‘Mr Drifter’ Driffield was thrown down to fullback, which proved to be successful as the Trobers lost a key tall to injury. However, the boys unfortunately ran out of legs as the more experienced Richmond Central side ran over the top of us, kicking six goals to none in the last quarter as they ran out 81-point victors.