Drouin dominated

by Nicholas Duck
Drouin got a taste of what the best teams can do on Saturday after a 143-point hiding from Moe.
There was nowhere to hide for the Hawks on the Drouin Recreation Reserve, who gave an honest account of themselves but were well and truly outclassed 11.5 (71) to 33.16 (214).
Despite missing former AFL player Ben Crocker, the Lions forwards dined out on the Drouin defence as Myles Poholke (nine goals) and Riley D'Arcy enjoyed the chance to cash in.
Despite their best efforts, Drouin were unable to contain the sheer talent the Lions boast, conceding 10 goals to four in the first quarter and being unable to bridge the gap thereafter.
While they put up a much better effort in the second half the gap between the Gippsland League's best and the rest was as stark as ever.
Moe were especially devastating in their centre bounce work, kicking several goals straight from the middle and keeping the pressure on the young Hawks from the very first minute.
The result isn't necessarily a surprise, given the Hawks are essentially a team of kids and the Lions are gearing up for a serious assault on the premiership.
Despite the magnitude of the result, Hawk Max Williames continued to show some impressive form both in the middle and at half back, where he gave his teammates plenty of drive and dare.
Seb Amoroso fought hard in the midfield alongside Zayne Atkins as forwards Vincent Kuol (four goals) and Noah Lafrantz (three) kept things ticking along.
Ben Brasier enjoyed some time in the middle to round out the Hawks' better players.
Moe had a wealth of choices for their own best but it was Jordan Shields who earned the honours ahead of the major goalkickers.
Alex Dijkstra, Blake Mullane and the returning Nathan Scagliarini were their other standouts on a day where they could have named just about anybody in there.
Making their ruthlessness all the scarier is the fact they were still without Crocket, Trent Baldi or Scott van Dyk.
While Drouin got a few licks in early, including a long-range bomb from Lafrantz, it was clear this was going to be a tough day at the office.
Moe's stoppage work was simply sublime, putting the Hawks to the sword on numerous occasions as they rained in goal after goal.
The onslaught didn't stop after quarter time, the Lions piling on the pain with 10 more goals in the second quarter as D'Arcy and Poholke ran riot.
Drouin coach Jordan Kingi moved himself onto D'Arcy to try and limit the forward's influence but then the ball's coming in that often and that hot, there's not much anyone can do.
Drouin's defensive efforts improved greatly in the second half, with the third quarter especially being a positive effort (the Hawks kicked five goals to Moe's six).
Some more late scores, however, saw the Lions break the 200-point barrier and earn themselves a hefty percentage boost.
Speaking post-game Kingi was realistic about the gap between his side and Moe.
"They're a class above everyone we've played this year, no disrespect to the other teams we've played. If you get them on a good day they can cut apart anyone," he said.
"We still did a lot of good things, we're just a long way off the best of the best of the competition."
Kingi said while his side had emphasised attacking a lot early in the season – the Hawks kicked the biggest score the Lions have conceded thus far – the next few weeks would be about improving defensively.
With winnable games to come against Bairnsdale, Morwell and Maffra, there'll be some good chances to see if they can pull it off.