Ruory Kirkby had a day out in front of the big sticks for Echuca, but his 10 goals, five behinds only told half the story of a dominant showing, according to GVL Data.
While footy fans love nothing more than a big bag of goals, it was also Kirkby’s aerial work that drew the admiration of the Murray Bombers faithful.
Kirkby had hot hands all day, reeling in a mammoth 22 marks, 17 of which he snared inside Echuca’s forward 50.
Ruory Kirkby vs Benalla
Score: 10.5
Disposals: 24 (23 kicks, one handball)
Marks: 22 (17 uncontested)
Marks inside 50: 17
Contested marks: 5
Kirkby’s safe hands in front of goal, coupled with the fact six of his 10 majors came in the first half, inevitably drew two Benalla defenders to stifle the rampaging forward.
Experience counts for everything, however, and against a young Saints line-up, Kirkby exploited that fact to find space and snare 17 of his marks uncontested.
Kirkby’s 24 touches put the cherry on top of a truly remarkable game for the key forward, who particularly favoured his movement by foot with a team-high 23 kicks.
His performance has also spiced up the Goulburn Valley League goal-kicking stakes.
Mooroopna sharpshooter Chris Neild bagged five goals in round 11 to expand his tally to 45 for the season.
However, Neild’s lead on the chasing pack has narrowed from 12 to seven, with Kirkby’s haul taking him to 38 majors for the season.
GVL Goal-kicking
Chris Neild (Mooroopna): 45
Ruory Kirkby (Echuca): 38
Mitch Cricelli (Rochester): 29
Erishmiilan Uthayakumar (Euroa): 27
Michael Hartley (Seymour): 26
Cooper Vick (Kyabram): 26