Tatura holds on in ‘real arm-wrestle’ to exact revenge over Rochester

By Aydin Payne

Jul 23, 2023

Crunch: Rochester’s Mitch Bright and Tatura’s Che Walls. Photo by Bruce Povey

He expected it to be an arm-wrestle and that’s exactly what Tatura coach Paul Barnard and his charges got on Saturday as they claimed a gritty and tense 10-point win against Rochester.

In a low-scoring and scrappy affair at Tatura Park, it was the hosts who did enough when it counted in the Goulburn Valley League clash.

The Bulldogs claimed the win and exacted revenge on Rochester for the defeat in round five.

The Bulldogs brought the pressure to Rochester and laid a season-high 104 tackles for the match, 60 of those coming in the second half, more than double their per-game average in 2023.

And leading the way in that department was star onballer Ethan Penrith.

The first-year Bulldog was again best afield for the hosts with a starring 32-disposal, 14-tackle and eight clearance effort.

He wasn’t alone and found quality contribution from defender Daniel Weetra, speedster Billy Cooper and running defenders Jimmy Nihill and Che Walls.

Rochester’s Hamish Hooppell (24 disposals) and Reid Gordon (23 disposals, 17 contested and 11 clearances) battled hard while Bailey Wileman (16, 15 and eight tackles) continued his rich run of form with a strong outing.

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Quick kick: Rochester’s Grant Fuller gets a kick away from Tatura's Xavier Hutchison. Photo by Bruce Povey

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Under pressure: Tatura’s Brodie Meyers is tackled by Rochester's Matt Kellett. Photo by Bruce Povey

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Around the corner: Rochester’s Dylan Gordon. Photo by Bruce Povey

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Quick hands: Rochester’s Reid Gordon fires off a handball. Photo by Bruce Povey

“It was a real arm-wrestle all day and a pretty scrappy old affair,” Barnard said.

“I thought we played and responded in areas that we wanted to focus on and we wanted to apply pressure which we did by having over 100 tackles for the match.

“A credit to Rochy, they made us work extremely hard for it.

“I was really pleased with the win, the boys have been grinding it out lately.

“We’ve been competitive against the top sides, bar a couple of matches, and we just haven’t been good enough for long enough so it was great that we were able to get some reward.”