Atley leads Tigers to first win of 2023

By Rohan Aldous

May 8, 2023

Grunt work: Joe Atley inspired his team to its first win of the season at Moon Oval on Saturday and, in doing so, continued a season that has him averaging more than 30 possessions and ranked as the number-one player for centre clearances.

Joe Atley almost single-handedly willed Rochester to its first win of the 2023 Goulburn Valley League season at Moon Oval on Saturday.

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Atley’s heroics, with an able deputy in Blake Evans, saw the Tigers break the three-quarter time deadlock with Tatura — when both teams had 6.9 (45) on the board — and kicked away to an 11-point win.

Rochester kicked three goals to one in the final term and eventually won the round-five battle with the Bulldogs 9.10 (64) to 7.11 (53).

Saturday’s win came in spite of the Tigers losing the disposal count (267 to Tatura’s 299) and having 30 less marks.

They were, however, plus 19 in contested ball and broke even in the clearance count, thanks to another five-clearance game from Atley.

It may not have been a volcano he was taking on, as Tom Hanks did in the 1990 comedy where he volunteered as a sacrifice to avoid an imminent eruption, but Joe Atley is meeting the rest of the GVL competition head on.

Coming off a season where he was Essendon’s VFL best and fairest, he added another 26 possessions to his season total on Saturday as the a Tigers won its first game of the season and, in doing so, avoided the bottom rung of the GVL ladder.

JOE VERSUS THE GVL

Joe Atley scored a game-high 138 Ranking Points at the weekend in the Tigers’ 11-point win against Tatura.

He is a top-five-ranked player in disposals, clearances, ground-ball gets and contested possessions, averaging 30.5 disposals a game.

This is his season so far:

– Round one: 33 disposals (16 contested).

– Round two: 33 disposals/13 clearances.

– Round three: 29 disposals/10 clearances.

– Round four: 27 disposals (15 contested).

– Round five: 26 disposals (10 inside 50s)

ROCHESTER v TATURA

(at Moon Oval, Saturday)

Rochester 2.4, 4.4, 6.9, 9.10 (64)

Tatura 1.3, 6.6, 6.9, 7.11 (54)

GOALS, Rochester: Reid Gordon 3, Mitch Cricelli 2, Mitch Bright, Fraser Cleary, Dylan Cuttriss, Nick O’Connor. Tatura: Tim Wilson 2, Chaz Sergeant 2, Brodie Meyers, Mathew Cornwall, Harley McCarthy.

BEST, Rochester: Joe Atley, Reid Gordon, Blake Evans, Mitch Cricelli, Nicholas O’Connor, Matt Kellett. Tatura: Michael Archer, Sean McAllister, Tim Wilson, Ethan Penrith, Mitchell Elliott.

Atley has stepped up after elder brother, and former North Melbourne 200-gamer Shaun, departed for Sweden at the end of last season.

His disposal total was second only to the 32 possessions of Evans, who is averaging a touch under 25 disposals every week this year.

Atley has been the Tigers’ best player in four of its five games and is top five in several statistical categories in the GVL. Last year he played only four games, averaging 27 disposals and seven clearances.

Pressure act: Blake Evans confronts Tatura’s Beau O’Connell in a tense match between the teams. Evans had a game-high 32 disposals for the Tigers and was instrumental in the final term after the teams were tied at three-quarter time. Photo by Bruce Povey

This year he is averaging 30.5 disposals and nine clearances, the league’s number-one centre-clearance player.

Atley put the ball inside 50 on 10 occasions against Tatura, double that of any other player on the ground, while also winning four free kicks and collecting 10 ground ball gets.

His only flaw was in front of goal, where he kicked two behinds.

Atley, along with Fraser Cleary, Mitch Bright and captain Nathan McCarty, inspired the last quarter victory. Bright and Cleary both kicked final quarter goals, Bright having seven of his 11 disposals in the final quarter.

After the weekend there are no winless teams in the Goulburn Valley league.

Benalla, the only other team without a win before the weekend, won its match with Shepparton United by two points and there are now six teams with 1-4 win/loss records for the season.

Echuca and Seymour remain unbeaten at the top of the ladder, while Kyabram and Euroa (who face-off this weekend) are the next best performed teams with four wins and one loss to open the season.

The reigning premier and Lions don’t meet until round 10 (June 17), while the Tigers face three of the top six teams - Mooroopna, Mansfield and Euroa - in the next five weeks.

Splitting those difficult assignments are winnable matches against bottom ranked Benalla and Shepparton United, the latter which has lost four on the trot after starting the season with a victory.

Going forward the Tigers will be relying on Reid Gordon and Mitch Cricelli to repeat their goalkicking heroics of the weekend , the pair combining for five goals in the victory.

The pair have both kicked five goals this season and performed well in the absence of James McPhee, who also has five for the season.

Rochester’s round six opponent, Mooroopna, lost by 11 points to Kyabram on Saturday and sits sixth with three wins for the season. They outscored the Bombers in the second half after trailing by 23 points at quarter time.