Sport
18 July, 2026
The match that sets Mean Machine for hard task
AS TUNE ups go, Bridgewater’s 100-point win over Bears Lagoon Serpentine was an ideal preparation for the Mean Machine’s top of the ladder clash with Marong this Saturday.
AS TUNE ups go, Bridgewater’s 100-point win over Bears Lagoon Serpentine was an ideal preparation for the Mean Machine’s top of the ladder clash with Marong this Saturday.
Coach Lachie Sharp kicked 11 goals for the second week in a row, making it 43 in the past five matches as he closes in rapidly on another 100-goal season, needing just 13 more for the ton with five games and finals to come.
A slow start with the wind saw Bridgewater only four points ahead at quarter-time, but five goals against the stiff breeze in the second term to the Bears’ five behinds told the tale of the rest of the game.
Sixteen goals to one after the first change saw another percentage boost for the Mean Machine, which was without its goalscoring Gold Coast fly-in duo Oscar McKinley and Mitch Patten. They will be back for the match of the season at Bridgewater, one that Sharp said would be “like a final”.
He said the clash with top team Marong – a game ahead of the Mean Machine but with an inferior percentage – would “teach us both about each other coming to the business end of the season”.
Bridgewater’s midfield was dominant against the Bears, with Darcy Wood, Luke Ellings, Harry Conway and Jack Neylon consistently winning clearances and pumping the ball forward.
The loss to injury earlier in the season of captain Harry McKinley robbed the team of its best in-and-under onballer, but the Mean Machine’s depth has covered his absence well.
Serp’s backline was constantly under siege, but tough-as-nails defender Tyler Miles was again a standout, along with Nathan Twigg, who controlled the ruck.
Bridgewater’s lack of a truly dominant ruckman may be the only real flaw in its lineup, with Marong’s powerful double act of Matt Willox and Michael Bradbury to come this week.
The Bears still have a chance to shape the make up of the finals, with Maiden Gully (sixth) to come on Saturday, followed by Newbridge (seventh) and then Pyramid Hill (third) in round 16.
Apart from the clash with Mitiamo in round 17, all of Serp’s opponents are in the race for the top five, with fifth-placed Inglewood in the final round.
- GARY WALSH
Read More: Serpentine, Bridgewater