Round three just wasn’t to be for three out of the four Wattle Park sides on the weekend. In direct comparison from the week before, the Women registered their first win of the season against Preston while both the Reserves and Seniors took down their Bulleen Templestowe counterparts and the Thirds suffered a rather large loss at the hands of St Mary Salesian. 

It was an unfortunate trip to A G Gillon Oval for the Reserves and Seniors this weekend, who were almost cruelly welcomed to Division 2 by mainstays Brunswick, with respective 101- and 89-point losses. After shuffling a few magnets and with both sides eager to back up round two’s performances, ultimately the footy gods had other ideas as the Animals struggled to get a look in from the first bounce. Miskicking from Brunswick kept the Reserves close but they were unable to break down the home team’s defense. It was a very similar story for the Seniors. In his final game for a couple of months, Lawrence Virgo managed two goals for the Reserves, while Jack Hernan was best on. For the Seniors, vice-captain Hugh Schaeche led valiantly from the front, and two majors from Dan Hill stemmed the bleeding all but slightly. 

Although dubbed the Jarra Davis Cup, it was a best-on-ground effort from Caden MacDonald, who starred for the Thirds against the Monash Blues at Bennettswood Reserve, kicking three more goals than the opposition team itself to lead the Animals home by 72 points. Davis himself managed two majors, playing out of the midfield for much of the game, while on the defensive end, first-year player Jarrod Sandells and Animals favourite Nic Glanville stood strong.  

After rallying around vice-captain Lilli Fogarty, who suffered a season-ending wrist injury in round two, all week, the Women came out of the blocks with a point to prove at Tony Sheehan Oval. Unable to get the scoreboard reward despite four quarters of effort and passion, the home side ran away 30-point winners. Continuing her fine form in front of the big sticks, J Clancy kicked both of the Animals’ goals. Elli Haylock’s work from half-back was more than worthy with best-on-ground honours, encapsulated by a 30 second passage of play in the final term which saw her paddle the ball forward 40 metres before nailing a tackle to come away with a free kick. 

Redemption in round four kicks off with the Women at home against UHS-VU, starting at 9:20am, before the Reserves and Seniors run out at their normal times of 11:40am and 2pm, welcoming Whitefriars to Bennettswood Reserve. Hoping to run it back, the Thirds face 

FINAL SCORES - ROUND THREE 

Thirds v Monash Blues Yellows: 16.13.109 - 5.7.37

Brunswick v Reserves: 20.11.131 - 4.6.30

La Trobe v Women: 6.7.43 - 2.1.13

Brunswick v Seniors: 19.13.127 - 5.8.38