Dusties dee-ny Demons

by Nicholas Duck
Talk about a dee-molition job.
A statement seven-goal third quarter has seen Warragul Industrials easily clear Koo wee rup on Saturday to stay unbeaten in season 2026.
Playing away from home the Dusties proved far too strong as the day wore on, kicking 10 goals to two in the second half to walk away with a 62-point win.
That included seven straight in the infamous 'premiership quarter' as the Dusties now move to the top of the ladder for the time being.
It's a very solid win in the context of the year, given the Demons have looked to be West Gippsland's big improvers off the back of their off-season recruiting spree.
Co-captain Michael Debenham was simply immense on his return from injury, showing a steadiness with ball in hand that belied the fact he was playing his first game since the Dusties' season opener. Debenham nailed a goal outside 50 in the third to cap off a best on ground showing.
Smooth mover Kuiy Jiath copped a heavy tag in the middle and was moved up forward where he proved lethal, hitting targets and the scoreboard in equal measure to boot four goals – the most of anyone on the ground.
Matthew Herbert's pace off half back again held him and his teammates in good stead while brothers Todd and Bailey Beck were equally influential.
Mason McGarrity (three goals) kept up his crafty ways to round out the Dusties' top performers.
Koo wee rup were best served by two of their usual suspects in Ethan McDonald and Matthew Voss.
The former continues to impress in 2026 as he develops into a solid player while the latter just keeps doing what he does – leading the Dees from the front.
Travis Bindley, Lachie Saunders, Seth O'Hehir and Corey Battams were other Demons to fight the good fight.
After a deadlock early the Dusties finally broke the drought 10 minutes in when McGarrity was given a 50 metre penalty thanks to not having the ball returned to him properly. A long Bailey Beck bomb followed soon after and from there the visitors rolled out to an early lead.
Last week the Dusties were too often getting sucked into the contest, but this week they held their width, allowing them to explode out of stoppage while keeping the Demons' running game in check.
A hard-fought second term saw the shares spoiled, the Demons unable to eat into the 16-point deficit but still keeping touch.
Dusties coach Bob McCallum found himself in an odd incident when he bumped a Demon player attempting to nullify Boadie Motton. The Koo wee rup player fell into the path of an umpire backing up, who tripped and subsequently knocked his head on McCallum, who had tried to catch him. Ouch.
By the time the third came around McCallum swung the magnets, starting Jiath inside 50 to help get him into the game.
The move paid dividends almost immediately - Jiath flew for a mark from the first clearance of the half, kicking truly and letting his opponent Mitch Gibson know all about it.
Jiath wasn't finished there either as he booted two more for the quarter, with goals to Lachlan Bambridge, Damian Leslie, Debenham and McGarrity all pushing the visitors to a commanding 58-point lead at three quarter time.
From there the day played out as expected, Warragul Industrials securing another win in what has been an impressive season so far.
Speaking post-game McCallum was happy with his side's ability to fix their contest work from the week before.
"Like every other game we know we've got to put in a bit of a battle for a while and then it'll open up for us if we keep at it," he said.
"I thought the boys executed the plan really well, we tried to take what they like to do away from them and we didn't let them run. Our chasing and tackling from behind was really pleasing, the number of holding the balls we won would have been through the roof."
McCallum will square off with an old teammate this Saturday when he takes on Eddie Morris and Garfield.