MINYIP-MURTOA full forward Clinton Midgley produced the highlight of a VCFL championships carnival at Barooga when he booted nine goals in the equivalent of half a game at the weekend.
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The athletic and mobile spearhead, who slotted into the goalsquare in the absence of injured David Johns on Saturday, was irrepressible as the Big W launched its Pool C campaign in style.
Midgley kicked 16 goals overall, including five in a Wimmera loss to Bendigo, a tally which sent VCFL officials searching through the record books.
The efforts of Midgley, Horsham defender Terry Arnel, Dimboola midfielder Ashley Clugston and Minyip-Murtoa rover Scott Smith were stand-outs in a fascinating carnival.
Wimmera won only one of its three games, beating Central Murray, but was far from disgraced against Murray and Bendigo.
The Big W did enough to hold its place in Pool C for next year.
Central Murray slipped to Pool D.
Midgley made the most of a withering Wimmera comeback against Central Murray on Saturday and after kicking three goals in the first of two 25-minute halves, kicked another six in the second.
Wimmera, playing in brilliant autumn sunshine at Barooga, won its first encounter by 14 points. But it coughed up the pool advantage later in the day against determined host league Murray before pool winner Bendigo beat them yesterday.
Wimmera managed to avoid relegation by only 4.75 per cent.
Bendigo deservedly won promotion to Pool B next year.
Wimmera was the obvious outsider, playing at the number-two ground for the two days with minimal facilities, a fact not lost on Big W coach Bruce Petering.
Petering left few in doubt what he thought of the Big W players getting changed in a tent, using the circumstances as a motivational spur before the opening game.
"This is all about respect. This is what they think of us, let's go out there and put our heads up and show them," he said.
But Wimmera had a mixed bag of results.
After its stirring win over Central Murray, the team failed to carry the momentum into a match against a Murray outfit which overwhelmed the Wimmera visitors out of the middle.
The Big W also appeared off balance with injuries to Horsham duo and coaches Stuart Farr and Damien Bunworth.
Murray fed off the willing ruck work of Nicholas Brayburn and stung Wimmera with efficient overlap handball through the middle, eventually cracking a solid Terry Arnel and Josh Rentsch-led backline.
Wimmera went into the final day needing to beat Bendigo to challenge for the title or to make sure it was competitive enough to stay in the pool on percentage.
It also needed Murray to beat Central Murray on the neighbouring ground.
The Big W was considerably lighter and smaller than the strong Bendigo team and after giving its opponent a considerable head-start was 43 points behind at the final siren.
Smith was again sensational, Arnel firmed up his Max Burke Medal for being Wimmera's best player.
Petering, at the end of the game: "Just think about the future. The effort was outstanding considering the personnel we had out of action and it's a credit to you all. Pat yourselves on the back, you've been fantasic."
But at the end of the carnival, spectators, officials and players were still talking about Midgley's efforts and how the likes of Warrack Eagles coach Marc Greig, Ash Clugston and Minyip-Murtoa key-position utility Adam Carter had performed with the
young talent around them.
Many feared the Big W, relatively light and brimful of debutants, would be out of its depth but the team was more than competitive and in different circumstances might have won the pool.
A knee injury to young Minyip-Murtoa ruckman Nathan Hinch gave Wimmera selectors early problems but they unearthed a replacement in the shape of Horsham United youngster Liam Offer.
Offer's high leap at the bounce allowed the likes of Scott Smith and Allistair McKinnon to make an impact.
Brad Couch from Horsham Saints had a good carnival, Horsham's Rentsch obviously enjoyed running from defence and Max Leeming impressed in a quality debut.
Centre half forward and joint captain Carter was a significant contributor and Greig was a class above most on the ground.
The carnival involved several ironic twists. Former Wimmera player Luke Rosa lined up for Bendigo, the son of former Wimmera interleague star Roger Chilton, Matt, was a key player for Central Murray, Brett Pekin, formerly of Noradjuha, won best-
player honours for Central Murray and Dimboola 2005 grand-final player Luke Eldridge lined up for Murray.
