NSW /ACT NEAFL wrap

The rain that had swept across the south east during the week had little impact, and barring a five minute patch of rain in the first quarter, conditions were near perfect for football.

The contest was never close as Aspley surged to a 44-point lead at the first change courtesy of a seven goal opening quarter.

In the second quarter, Belconnen almost managed to break even as they used the scoring end to kick their only two goals for the game while holding Aspley to two of their own.

However, in the third quarter Aspley was ruthless as they piled on 11 goals to nothing to send a big statement to the rest of their competition regarding their premiership credentials.

Aspley had winners all over the ground as they beat Belconnen on the inside and then used their superior foot skills to break the game open.

Few for Belconnen could say they had an impact on the contest but Damian Hector and Ryan Turner battled manfully in the middle while acting captain Chris York tried his best down back.

For Aspley, there were 13 individual goal-kickers as Eddie Sansbury capped a dominant game to finish with six goals while Jack Stanley and Cheynee Stiller finished with three each.

The combination of Jed Turner and Michael Pettitt was dominant in the ruck as they gave their midfield silver service from the centre.

This allowed the likes of Matt Payne, Reece Toye and Ryan Matthews to have a big impact on the inside as they fed Stiller and Austin Lucy on the outside.

Aspley will now look forward to what shapes as a scintillating clash with NT Thunder in Darwin, while Belconnen will welcome the chance to get back home as they take on Eastlake at Kippax Oval.

After a week of miserable Canberra weather, both teams took advantage of some rare clear skies and adapted well to a damp field underfoot to kick 11 goals between them in the first quarter.

The Eagles had a strong start, taking an eight-point buffer into the first change.

From then on it was all Ainslie, with the home side going on to score nine goals for the quarter and take a 20-point lead into half time.

The third quarter was tough and tight, Ainslie kicking five goals to four to extend their lead out to 31 points at the final change.

The Eagles couldn’t hang on and gave up another eight goals to the home side in the final quarter.

The Tricolours ended with a whopping thirteen individual goalkickers, a great start after losing their leading goalkicker from 2013 in Josh Bennett.

While the Eagles couldn’t go with Ainslie for the full four quarters, they haven’t lost their ability to put together a good score.

Both coaches will surely be looking to add a harder defensive edge to their game plans next week after such a high scoring match.

There’s plenty of positives for Ainslie, as they certainly haven’t lost any of their attacking flair despite some significant list changes during the off-season.

Former Port Adelaide player Nick Salter was strong in his NEAFL debut, kicking three majors, while last year’s best and fairest Aaron Vandenburg was a standout through the centre of the ground.

The Thunder made better use of the humid and slippery conditions as they turned a one-point half time lead into a 40-point lead by the final change on the back of a six goal third quarter.

The GIANTS were left to rue a wasteful opening quarter and a half as they squandered numerous early chances which proved costly in the end.

Although UWS did manage to win the last quarter, the Thunder held firm as new recruit Alwyn Davey kicked the last two goals of the game, giving him four for the match.

The Thunder got plenty of drive from their backline as Ben Rioli – who also crept forward to kick two goals – and Jonathon Peris rebounded well while Justin Beugelaar fought out an intriguing duel with GWS number one draft pick Tom Boyd.

The other intriguing match-up was the ruck battle between Julian Lockwood from NT and Andrew Phillips and Rory Lobb from GWS.

While the GWS pairing got the better of the hit-out count, Lockwood was terrific at ground level before succumbing to an injury in the last quarter.

For the GIANTS, Steven Gilham did a terrific job blanketing Darren Ewing in his 100th NEAFL game, while Will Hoskin-Elliott was prolific in the midfield.

Jake Barrett offered plenty for the visitors, while Jono O’Rourke, Adam Tomlinson and Liam Sumner all showed glimpses of their undoubted talent.

After wet weather had swept through Queensland during the week, conditions were not improved by further rain during the AFL game between Brisbane and Geelong.

The Lions were unable to give their forwards any significant opportunities as the Swans completely blanketed their opponents in the opening half, conceding only two points throughout the first two quarters.

Sydney’s emphatic win in the wet conditions showed how much the young Lions will need to improve if they are any chance of securing a hat trick of premierships.

The Swans’ performance was built on solid defence from the likes of Shane Biggs and Aliir Aliir as they repelled the few forward forays the Lions made.

The midfield was also solid as Daniel Robinson and Jake Lloyd found plenty of the footy, while the margin could have been significantly greater if Sydney had converted their chances up forward.

The Lions had very few players who made positive impressions on the coaches, but Jordon Bourke found plenty of the footy across the backline while Zac O’Brien showed why the Lions were so intent on securing him in the rookie draft.