by Nicholas Duck

The Western Derby can often throw up some unpredictable and wildly entertaining results when local rivals Warragul and Drouin go at it. Sunday wasn't one of those times.

Warragul put together their most comprehensive performance of the season on Sunday to completely outrun and outgun their old enemies across town, destroying them by 115 points in the process.
The Gulls were on song from the outset, putting through the first five goals of the day in quick succession to leave the Hawks scrambling.
And from there they didn't relent, putting the inexperienced Drouin outfit to the sword to win 23.18 (156) to 6.5 (41), their largest ever Western Derby win.
It's as strong a performance as we've seen from the Gulls in some time and by equal measure as disappointing a display from the Hawks.
Warragul were harder around the ball, smarter when they had it and executed their kicks in ways that Drouin couldn't match at any stage.
Even when the Hawks had their periods of encouraging play, their inability to hit targets brought them undone time and time again, leaving them vulnerable on the turnover.
A bumper crowd were in the house to see the Warragul debut of social media star Thomas 'Prime Train' Baulch.
Baulch, who boasts 172,000 followers on Instagram as a fitness influencer, was a big hit with the kids around the ground, who were more than happy to shout his name whenever he went near the ball.
Unfortunately for them he had limited influence early at half forward, but was able to ease into the day when thrown deeper with two goals in the third quarter.
Given Drouin took out both derbies last season there were more than a few Warragul players seemingly relishing the chance to dish out some old-fashioned pain.
Such was the one-sided nature of the contest that we didn't even see many of the usual spot fires that typically come when these two meet.
Instead, Warragul were happy to let their football do the talking.
Midfield bull Tom Hobbs was in rare air for the home side, putting up some video game numbers with 42 disposals and five goals.
It was a truly exceptional performance from the Gulls star, who was at his brutal best.
Young Riley Senini continues to grow into his role around the ball, showing plenty of class.
It was also a great day for intercept defender Sean Masterson, who was a force to be reckoned to be with aerially. Masterson's leap was on display when he very nearly took one of the marks of the year. The fact that he couldn't quite hold on was really his only blemish across the four quarters.
James Harrison's versatility through the midfield and up forward provided plenty of value for the Gulls, while Kai MacLean took his chances in front of goal and Vinnie Caia's leg speed was a killer on the outside.
Drouin's list of winners was much more limited, though big recruit Denver Lund impressed in the ruck and in marking contests, where he gave some good grunt around the ground.
Kye Quirk's efforts were again unquestionable around the contest and inside 50, kicking two early goals. Max Williames did well to quell Baulch in the first half before he was thrown around the ground in a variety of roles as the game wore on.
Will Brewer gave Gulls key forward Brayden Fowler a good fight in the air as Kaiden Walmsley and Caleb Quirk rounded out Drouin's better players on a tough day.
Signs were ominous early that this was going to be a long day for the winless Hawks when Warragul goaled out of the first centre clearance of the day through Fowler.
It didn't look much better after Jordan Stewart and Riley Senini tripled that advantage within minutes and it appeared even worse after Tom Stern and Kai MacLean struck their own blows.
Looking panicked and needing someone to stand up, Drouin relieved some of the pressure through Cody Fleming, who took full toll after a 50-metre penalty for a Warragul player encroaching the mark.
Kye Quirk took a strong mark at full forward to keep the Hawks' momentum going, despite having their inside 50s doubled for the term.
The teams traded blows after quarter time with the Hawks having seemingly settled into the game.
Harrison and Baulch had some moments to blush at within minutes of each other when the pair both celebrated with the crowd on kicks at goal that eventually turned out to be behinds.
Tom Stern exerted some influence on the day, kicking two goals for the quarter and setting up another to MacLean as the clearance battle began to heavily favour the Gulls, who booted the last five majors of the half to take a commanding 50-point lead into half time.
Having hardly seen the ball in the first half, Baulch found more success deeper forward, winning a holding the ball free soon after play resumed and slotting the shot, much to the delight of his teammates and the many kids in the crowd.
He doubled up a little later after winning another free in a marking contest.
Hobbs was clearly enjoying his day at the office, marking a ball and wheeling around for a beauty on the run.
Drouin again were their own worst enemy at times, missing kicks and handballs to cruel themselves out of chances at goal even when they looked to be running in waves.
Come the last quarter and it was really a matter of Warragul by how much. Evidently, they wanted Warragul by a lot.
The Gulls were able to go coast to coast multiple times, taking the ball from full back to full forward in the blink of an eye.
A great curling goal from Luke Garner near the boundary line eventually pushed the margin beyond triple digits, something Warragul fans haven't seen their side do in quite some time.
Eventually it was party time for the men in red and black, who are now in some serious contention for finals as they sit in sixth place behind Morwell on percentage only.
Their upcoming run of games, starting with a spluttering Wonthaggi side next week, is going to tell us a lot about where they are.
Speaking post-game, Warragul coach Jed Lamb – who is expecting a return to the field next week after a quad injury – was delighted with his team's effort.
"The easy thing when you're winning pretty comfortably is to go away from all the team stuff and start thinking about yourself but as I said after the game it was a super professional, four quarter effort," he said.
Lamb was especially pleased by the way his team took advantage of playing a lower ranked side to record a comfortable win – something they've struggled with in the past.
"Obviously it's a convincing win but we should win them. It's not being arrogant, but you come to those games where you want to put them away and it just shows the maturity of the group that we're starting to do that."
Drouin coach Leigh Horsburgh cut a much more forlorn figure, describing it as "a horrible day" for the Hawks.
"I wouldn't say we came here expecting a result or anything but we expected improvement, we wanted to stick to our structures. We had parts today, again like every game this year, where we've been good and we've let ourselves down on execution," he said.
"It's a good experience for a lot of these kids because a lot of them haven't played in that sort of a game. I think our average age today was 20 years and three months so still young, still raw.
"The boys are hurting, as am I, but we just need to be as positive as we can. I'm lucky with this group of kids that they're committed to getting better."
Drouin will next host Morwell in a 'home' game at Traralgon this Saturday. The Hawks have showed signs of life this season and will now look to turn those into something more meaningful in the second half of this year as they continue to commit to their rebuild. When you're playing that many kids, that's all you can really do.