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up and away for the bees
draft calls galore for jet set’s star
Bowls
AFL draft
Werribee’s road losing streak in Bowls Victoria division 1 has ended. The Bees finally won a game away from the Hive, breaking a losing run going back to the 2011-12 season when the club played in the premier division. The pressure valve was released on Saturday and the Bees could exhale after a 92-79 win over Montmorency. “We got the monkey off the back,” Bees skip Snowy Barker said. “It’s a relief and it’s something we can work on and push for next time we play away.” The Bees had to endure a nervous finish in breaking the streak. They had two huge rink victories, but were also beaten in the other two rinks. Mick O’Neil gave the Bees plenty of room to move with an 18-shot win, while Rob Panton ended the game up by 13. The trouble spots for the Bees were Barker, down three, and Steve Clancy, down 13. Clancy was a makeshift skip for the absent Peter Ware. In fact, the Bees were missing three key players, making the victory all the more impressive. The situation provided a chance for teenager Kendall Evans to make his debut in the top side. Evans’ arrival completes a meteoric rise. “He’s gone from the fives to the threes to the twos to the ones in seven rounds,” Barker said. “It’s a massive rise and I think he could probably hold his spot.” The Bees host Preston-Reservoir at Chirnside Park on Friday from 6.30pm. \ LANCE JENKINSON
James Sicily is the top Western Jets prospect for the 2013 AFL national draft. Sicily is on the radar of AFL recruiters if calls to Jets coach Torin Baker are any indication. “There have been quite a lot of inquiries about James and how he goes about his football,” Baker said. “As has been the case with a number of other players, clubs do their due diligence ... there’s certainly been a lot of clubs wanting to find out about how James carries himself away from the football field and what he’s like in the club.” The phone calls have come on the back of Sicily’s impressive season with the Jets in the TAC Cup. The 18-year-old was able to move seamlessly into different positions, depending on the team’s needs. The starting point was a forward role, where he was comfortable on the lead across half-forward and strong in the air closer to goal. The Keilor product also developed as a midfielder. “That’s one of his strengths; he’s got that versatility to his game,” Baker said. “At the moment, he’s a forward who can play high and also be damaging in a marking contest close to goal. In the second half of the year, he showed he can play as an inside ‘mid’, and he played some damaging football for us.” Sicily – a Vic Metro representative, in the top three in the Jets’ best and fairest and with 26 goals in 16 games this season – is not projected to be selected in the first round, but Baker is confident his name will be called out in Thursday’s draft. Jake Greiser is considered an outside chance of landing on an AFL list. The 18-year-old premier clearance and contested ball player in the TAC Cup last season was able to sustain a high level of play for the duration of a season. “His main strength is the inside footy,” Baker said. “He was the number one clearance player, number one contested possession winner – so to have that stat to show you’re an outstanding inside footballer and with today’s football being so congested, I’m certain clubs will be looking at that.” David Iaccarino, the club best-and-fairest, and Brett Bewley, could be the smokies of the draft for the Jets. Iaccarino, a Williamstown juniors product who played under the 19-year-old rule, thrived in the midfield, displaying inside-outside attributes and lifting in big-game situations. Bewley, out of Darley, was damaging on the wing and across half-back. The AFL draft is at the Gold Coast tomorrow night. Those who miss out will have to wait until the November 27 pre-season and rookie drafts. \ LJ
Sigh of relief: Werribee skip Snowy Barker was thrilled to see the end of a lengthy losing streak on the road. (DARREN HOWE)
redbacks rally for spectacular win cricket
A week of soul searching has got Little River back on track in the Geelong Cricket Association’s division 3 firsts. The players aired their grievances in a hastily put together team meeting following a round-four belting from Shelford. The Redbacks followed up the words with actions in an incredible outright-in-a-day win over North Shore, along with a Twenty20 triumph over Teesdale – all in the space of seven days. “We had the team meeting and assessed where we wanted to be and what we wanted to do, and the boys came out firing,” Redbacks captain Nathan Kenyon said. The Redbacks achieved a rare outright win inside a day over North Shore in the longer 38 WYNDHAM WEEKLY \ NOVEMBER 20, 2013
format. They started the rout by dismissing wickets for the match with his off-spin and 54 North Shore for 55 in 34 overs. runs at first drop. The Redbacks hit a quickfire 4-87 declared With a space created on the calendar due in 15 overs to bowl at the shaky hosts a second to the Redbacks’ wrapping up victory on time in the afternoon. day one, they rescheduled one of their T20 “I said to the boys, ‘We’re going to bat 15 knockout encounters to Saturday. overs and put them back in’,” Kenyon said. The Redbacks (4-144) stormed to a big “We made 87 off those 15 and declared, win over Teesdale (69), with Kenyon and there were 21 overs left in the again impressive with five wickets day.” and 37 runs, while Jye Kenna “the boys North Shore was out for 38 in 15 contributed 37. came out overs in its second dig. This was a big psychological firing” The Redbacks picked off the runs hurdle for the Redbacks to clear. without the loss of a wicket for a “They beat us in round one and comprehensive win. at the moment they’re 5-0 [in the “It was just one of those days you have league],” Kenyon said. “Today really where everything goes to plan,” said Kenyon, showed what we can do. Playing against a who was at the forefront of the victory. The quality side and to have a win like that, we’re third-year captain led by example with nine pretty happy.” \ LJ