Depleted Dusties dulled by Demons

by Nicholas Duck
A severely undermanned Warragul Industrials found themselves on the wrong end of another result following a scrappy 16-point loss to Koo wee rup.
Playing without a host of their first choice players, the Dusties were able to keep pace with the Demons for much of the day but lacked the class up forward to make their chances count in slippery conditions.
Instead it was the visitors who were able to slowly win the war of attrition the longer the day wore on, kicking four second half goals to two.
The 5.7 (37) to 7.11 (53) loss is the Dusties' fourth from their past six games.
Star midfielder Boadie Motton was a last-minute out due to illness, joining defenders Kyan Willis and Tim Hancock, winger Hayden Baker, ruck Damian Leslie and forward Mason McGarrity as some of the names not taking the field.
Most of those names should be back soon enough although Leslie (suspected ACL) is looking at an extended absence alongside McGarrity, who has already been ruled out for the year.
Between all of them it meant the home side went into the game arguably missing their best player across every line and playing a host of talented albeit inexperienced juniors.
The weather didn't make things easy either, with the rain turning the ball into a bar of soap and forcing both sides to knuckle down at the contest.
And while Warragul Industrials won their fair share of the ball, their use of it - particularly going inside 50 - left a lot to be desired.
Compounding their availability issues was a hamstring injury to forward Goy Lok early in the second half, ruling him out of the game after already dealing with a host of injuries this year.
Matt Herbert was again a shining light for his side, charging off half back with his usual pace and dare to be the Dusties' best for the day with 25 disposals.
Coach Bob McCallum shouldered solo ruck duties for the first time in years with aplomb, winning 46 hit outs to go with 10 disposals - even if he ended up being very sore afterwards.
Will Gibson (23 disposals) and Brenton Hillard (21 disposals) cracked in at the coalface, getting their hands dirty and winning plenty of contested footy.
Regan Awty too crashed and bashed on return from injury, as co-captain Todd Beck covered the ground well and made his disposals count.
For the Demons brothers Matt Voss and Nathan Voss (19 disposals each) were at their best, the former lethal on the ground and the latter dominating the air at both ends of the ground.
Ethan McDonald won a host of intercepts while Caleb Crestani, Zak Banks, Lachie Saunders, and Ishak Bashir were all excellent despite the wet and wild weather.
From the beginning of the game it was clear clean play and goals were going to be hard to come by as the Demons' opened their account after a turnover across half back allowed Matt Voss to pick up the ball and fire it through off one step.
Lok rolled one through not long after to get the home side going before Voss again involved himself, spearing a pass to Tim Miller for Koo wee rup's second.
Nathan Voss followed in his brother's footsteps, hitting up Seth Lawler to give the Demons an early buffer in the second term.
Warragul Industrials were able to claw their way back however, first when Todd Beck floated through one of the ugliest goals you'll see and second when a horrific kick from full back landed in Lachlan Bambridge's lap for a simple set shot.
Lok exited the game early in the third term chasing the ball back to goal, pulling up gingerly and immediately limping off to leave the Dusties a man down.
After conceding the first goal of the half the Dusties hit back when Herbert was awarded a free and 50-metre penalty courtesy of Corey Battams, who threw Brody Walsh to ground after the call.
Battams made up for his error, however, pouncing on another poor kick in the Dusties' defence to goal.
The Voss brothers teamed up when a long bomb from Matt landed on Nathan's chest to give the Demons a 14-point lead heading into the last.
Any hope of a home side comeback were just about dashed after Josh Bateman received a handball deep in the forward pocket and fired through a killer blow.
Koo wee rup were able to hold firm to secure their eighth win of the year and continue their march towards a first finals appearance since 2019.
Speaking post-game, McCallum said while the loss was disappointing, it was a good effort given the calibre of players missing.
"I was actually pretty pleased with the way the boys carried themselves in the end. It's been a rough couple of weeks for the club, guys just getting injured, coming back and then getting hurt again," he said.
"It's really tough to find that continuity when all those players are going in and out.
"Our kicking going inside 50 really cost us. I thought we had some good chances, we just didn't capitalise."
Warragul Industrials remain two games clear inside the top six and will travel to face Korumburra Bena this weekend before a tough run of games against Phillip Island, Inverloch-Kongwak and Nar Nar Goon.
"I said to the boys post-game we just need to get some guys back and make the most of the rest of the season. The effort we put in knowing what we were up against, we'll take real positives out of this, we need to start taking some wins out of these last six or seven games," McCallum said.