Sport
26 June, 2026
Star belts through the sealer
WITH its season on the line, Newbridge coach Jayden Cordy has the task of “bringing the boys back from cloud nine” after the thrill of playing with Gary Ablett junior against Bridgewater.
The Maroons face Maiden Gully on Saturday in a match Cordy said was “nearly a must-win” if his team was to play finals.
Trailing by 43 points at three-quarter time, Newbridge made a charge that threatened to overwhelm the Mean Machine.
When Ablett belted the ball out of a pack and it was marked by Brodie Carr, who goaled to trim the margin to 11 points, the huge crowd at Riverside Oval erupted.
Ablett, wearing Carr’s number 29 guernsey, had earlier narrowly missed a set shot that would have piled even more pressure on Bridgewater.
Mean Machine coach Lachie Sharp said his team didn’t use the ball well in the last quarter, giving up five unanswered goals until the day’s other marquee player, former St Kilda and North Melbourne champion Nick Dal Santo, took a strong mark and kicked the sealer for Bridgey.
Sharp said both sides had “lucked out” with their celebrity teammates, with both Ablett and Dal Santo putting in all day on and off the field.
Ablett started forward at the first bounce, with Jacob Ellings taking on the unenviable task of standing the Little Master.
Unsure where Ablett would play, Sharp left it to his players to decide who would be the superstar’s direct opponent, and Ellings took on the challenge.
Ablett had said before the game that he was a competitor, and that was apparent from the start.
He and Ellings pushed and niggled at each other until Ablett moved in the midfield, and when he switched forward again other Bridgewater players took him on.
Ablett kicked two goals – one a bomb from outside 50m – and was a constant threat, racking up 25 disposals.
“I said to a few of the boys before the game, that if Gaz has his head over the footy, just use your voice – he’ll find you,” Cordy said,
Dal Santo had less of the ball but kicked the critical last-quarter goal that had his teammates running from everywhere to celebrate. On rival turf before a crowd of 2000 people, it was the sealer.
Sharp booted five for the Mean Machine, with Oscar McKinley, who handed his number 26 guernsey to Dal Santo, kicking four. Cordy said Newbridge’s final term was “nearly our best quarter for the year” and gave him confidence for the clash with the Eagles.
Bridgewater faces Pyramid Hill in another pivotal match between second and third on the ladder.