TWO of the Loddon Valley Football Netball League’s premier forwards flexed their muscles with commanding performances in round eight action.
Bears Lagoon Serpentine full-forward Josh Mellington bagged 16 goals in his side’s 30.10 (190) to 9.5 (59) thumping of Newbridge, while Pyramid Hill recruit Ben Bisset kicked 10 goals in the Bulldogs’ empahtic 27.16 (178) to 3.3 (21) win over Calivil United.
Mellington’s day out was his second-straight double-figure tally this season and the former Fremantle Dockers forward now has 31 goals in the two games he’s played against Newbridge in 2024 and 2025.
Mellington joined Bridgewater coach Lachlan Sharp on 43 goals at the top of the LVFNL goalkicking race. Inglewood’s Seb Erharter is just one goal behind the star duo.
“Josh gave away a couple of goals well, he had a really good day out,’’ Bears’ coach Jake Wilkinson said of Mellington.
“We’ve been working on our ball movement to make sure we get more opportunities inside that 30-metre arc. By putting it to the hot spot, Josh can do his work and at least create a contest
where our crumbers can get front and centre. It paid dividends at the weekend.”
After impressing with Mt Pleasant in the Heathcote league in 2024, Bisset has made a strong impact in his first with the Bulldogs, kicking 33 goals in seven games.
After spending most of his playing time across half-forward in the first seven rounds, Bisset played closer to goal against the Demons and gave the defence plenty of headaches.
“Ben got some good looks inside forward 50 and we were really good at centre bounces which gave him some good one-on-one opportunities,’’ Pyramid Hill coach Nathan Fitzpatrick said.
“His ability to take contested marks is very good. I think he only had one or two goals until half-time, so his second half was phenomenal.
“The most pleasing part (of the win) was our score against. Offensively, we’ve been pretty good this year, but defensively we needed to tidy up a bit… so it was good to keep Calivil to three goals.”
While a couple of individual forwards commanded centre stage in Serpentine’s and Pyramid Hill’s victories, reigning premiers Marong got the job done via committee. The Panthers had 14 individual goalkickers in their 25.7 (157) to 5.3 (33) win over Mitiamo. Lachlan Lee, Richard Tibbett and David Johnstone were in great form for Marong.