Sport
8 May, 2026
Dogs with bite: What does one say?
PYRAMID Hill coach Jarrod Fitzpatrick didn’t know what to say to his players at half-time of their Loddon Valley Football League clash with Marong last Saturday.
The four-time reigning Loddon Valley premiers were goalless at the Malone Park home ground, with the Bulldogs 51 points up at the Panthers’ fortress, Malone Park.
All Fitzpatrick could do was to ask for more of the same and warn that Marong would fight back, and his team duly powered on in the third quarter before easing off in the last term for a 47-point win.
Pyramid Hill’s list was upended after last season, and some pundits predicted that the Bulldogs would struggle in 2026. But now they shape as genuine premiership chances, with only a 24-point loss to Bridgewater in round two blotting their copybook.
Could one of the longest droughts in footy come to an end this season, with Pyramid Hill’s last flag coming in 1950?
Marong had 10 changes from its 2025 flag-winning team against the Bulldogs, including the absence of Team of the Year nominee Ryley Taylor, veteran Corey Gregg and crafty forward Jack McCaig, but the Panthers’ enviable depth has been a feature of the club’s long run of success.
Coach James Flaherty said that while his team’s performance was poor, “Pyramid Hill were pretty good – they got the jump on us, and we weren’t able to weather the storm.”
Pyramid Hill’s lineup was all but unrecognisable from the team that crashed out of the finals in straight sets last season.
In versatile Isaac Brill and former North Central star Jhye Baddeley-Kelly, the Bulldogs have two of the recruits of the year, and the veteran core of skipper Ben Knight, Zach Alford and Gavin James are playing as well as ever.
Pyramid Hill’s Darwin fly-in contingent of Brodie Carroll, Will Perryman, Robby Bartee and Mitch Jorgensen have been important.
The four will not play for the next two weeks when the Bulldogs face strugglers Calivil and Mitiamo but will return in round seven against Bears Lagoon Serpentine.
The major concern for Pyramid Hill is any potential injuries.
Fitzpatrick admitted the club’s playing depth was its potential Achilles heel.
Their reserves are last on the ladder, with a dismal percentage of 12.93, having lost three games by more than 100 points and the other by 82.
“We don’t have a real lot in our twos, but we had four senior players out on the weekend, and we got through injury free,” he said. “If you had told me we’d be 3-1 after four rounds after playing the top three teams, I’d have been pretty happy with that.
“We knew we had the talent, but to execute as well as we have, and to have been up at half-time against Bridgey, shows a bit.”