The opening round of the new look QAFL commenced at Wilston Grange last Saturday under lights in warm conditions and a young Western Magpies outfit were defeated by 29 points.
The 2014 season is full of interest with the new QAFL competiton and in many ways it is difficult to gauge where all the clubs are in the pecking order, with most clubs having substantial changes to their playing lists. The landscape will become more evident in the next few weeks as the 4 ex-NEAFL clubs play against the 6 ex-Division 1 clubs in coming weeks.
The Magpies went into the match against Wilston Grange with a new look line-up and with last years’ co-captain Lachlan Woods joined by Callum Carseldine (replacing Gerard Moore, who is at the Police Academy but may be available later in the season). New players to the Magpies were Matt Garland, a tall and lively forward, Luke Mitchell making his debut after several years pursuing a swimming career, Callum Carseldine and 2006 premiership player Matt “Doc” Davis, both returning to the club after several years away, the returning Sean Mewing and Dominic Beer, both missing the 2013 season, and Aaron Yusia, a livewire forward. Also playing for the first time were Redland listed players Corey Hopkins, a Sherwood junior, and Blaec Ablett, a solid defender.
The general post-match comment from Magpie coaches Glenn Humphrey and Gorilla coach Matt Trewhella was that the pace and speed of the game has increased since last year and that the match was as hard a contest as they can remember for a first round match, with many heavy physical clashes and solid tackling throughout.
The third quarter proved to be the Magpies achilles heel with lapses in concentration and several skill errors allowing Grange to kick 3 late goals to a 34 point lead at the last change.
Two early goals in the final quarter gave the Magpies some hope of a comeback but Grange were able to steady with 2 majors in reply and hold on to a solid victory—the Gorillas first over the Magpies at Stafford for many years.
Coach Glenn Humphrey was pleased with the effort of the players but decried numerous skill errors , especially missing targets with hand and foot which resulted in costly turnovers. He was pleased with young defender Doug Lawrence (Sofitel award) , who did well on Grange key forward Trewhella, Billy Moorhead, Cory Hopkins and and Ben Jaenke-Cain, all industrious in the midfield and small forward Matt Thompson, who made the most of his opportunities with 5 goals. He thought Luke Mitchell showed enough in his debut to be a young player with a big future at the club.
Peter Kilroy across half back and Matt Garland up forward were good at times but need more consistency, with Garland bagging 4 goals on debut.
The big loss from the match was the season ending injury to co-captain Callum Carseldine, who injured his left knee late in the second quarter and scans on Monday confirm an anterior cruciate ligament tear. This is bitter news for Callum as he had just recovered from a shoulder reconstruction in 2013. All at the Magpies wish Callum all the best and our thoughts are with him at this new injury.
This week sees the Magpies host Sandgate at Chelmer on Saturday afternoon and it will be a big match as Sandgate were victorious over Uni of Queensland on the weekend.
Several players will be pushing for inclusion including key forward Jaiden Morton, who was missing due to a wedding, Drew Mitchell, who showed his class at times in the Reserves after missing a lot of the pre-season due to teaching in North Queensland, midfielder Tom ielasi and new player Mitchell Stillard, who showed glimpses of talent across half back.