Corio wins on a special day

Corio co-coach Adam Bell said his side’s win against Geelong West Giants was the perfect ending to a day where the message of mental health awareness was arguably more important than the result on the field.

The two Geelong & District Football League clubs played for the second annual Shaka Cup at West Oval on Saturday 2 May in support of The Shaka Project and mental health and suicide prevention.

Corio survived a last-quarter Giants comeback to win by nine points.

“We love playing for the Shaka Cup – it definitely means a lot,” Bell said.

“Being inside the football club, you’re dealing, as a coach, with players and lots of mental health stuff and stuff going on in their lives.

“So having a round dedicated to looking after your mate and talking about

how you’re feeling is so important.”

The Devils were wasteful with the wind in the opening term and scored 5.9, but still took a handy 37-point lead into the second term. Geelong West stormed home and booted seven goals in the final quarter after trailing by 34 points at the break.

Bell said despite converting just five goals from 14 scoring shots, the first term was pleasing.

“The way we started and just being consistent through the game,” he said.

“There were patches where they came back at us, but we kept going. I think in the past few weeks we’ve probably dropped our heads a bit.

“And…having a few losses like we have, sometimes it can drain or take some energy out of the group.

“(But) the boys have been so up and about. Coming into the game, they were feeling good, they were feeling positive.”

Brock Cervenka won the medal for best afield with the youngster given a different role in the backline.

“Just looking at his pace and we have a lot of forwards so we really wanted to keep him in the team somehow and then just try him down back and he’s just flourished from that,” Bell said.

“He’s had a good preseason. He’s a really good kid, he just wants to get better and better every week and having his contested game was something that we really focused on. And he’s taken that to another level as well.”

Herchelle Carr booted five goals for Corio and was a constant threat.

“He’s so just dynamic,” Bell said.

“He’s a hard matchup, too. He gets you on the ground, in the air. He’s a very smart footballer.

David Waldron kicked two goals, but it was his work in the ruck that contributed most to the win.

“He’s got a really good leap on him,” Bell said.

“He played forward-ruck at his club last year and there have been a few games where we’ve chucked him in there (ruck), but we thought we’d just go with him a bit more this week.”

Corio hosts Anakie on Saturday in round 5. Anakie defeated the Giants by 55 points in round 3 and although it is a winnable game for the Devils, Bell said his side would need to play very well.

“It’s a bit of a rivalry with Anakie,” he said.

“I think last year we beat them twice, but I think this win (against Geelong West) gives us a bit more confidence.

“Each week we’re adding some more things to our game, and probably for us it’s just playing a full game the way we want to play and we haven’t quite done that just yet.

“Even though we had the win yesterday, we still had a quarter or two where we went away from what we wanted.

“In the next few weeks, we’ve got some sides down the bottom there with us so if we can get a couple of wins it can just take us anywhere.”

BELMONT Lions made a statement, defeating reigning premier North Geelong by 35 points with a five-goal to none last quarter. Jed Evans was best while Ben Evans booted four goals.

EAST Geelong spearhead Zac Smith took his season’s goal tally to 28 with five majors in a 55-point win against Winchelsea.

JOSH Viney was best afield in Inverleigh’s 69-point win against Anakie. The former Geelong West Giants star is enjoying a fast start at his new home while another newcomer, Ethan Floyd, also played well.

BANNOCKBURN defeated Bell Post Hill by 46 points thanks to a fast, but wasteful, start where it kicked 5.9 in the first term. Jackson Gorman crossed from Bell Park in the offseason and was best while Henry Hawker kicked four goals.

THOMSON’S winless start continued with a 20-point loss to Werribee Centrals. Paul Davis kicked five goals for Thomson while Kur Kur did the same for the Centurions.