Demons arrest Bushrangers with 110-point win

Originally published in Dubbo Photo News

The Dubbo Demons senior women’s side have reaffirmed their dominance ahead of their top-of-the-table clash on Saturday.

The Demons had an easy 110-point win over an undermanned Bathurst Bushrangers on Saturday, July 9, at South Dubbo Oval.

Coach Peter Martinoli said the away team was missing eight of their most experienced players, and it gave the Demons a good opportunity to try some new things.

“In that fourth quarter, we had a bit of fun and did backs as forwards and forwards as backs, just to mix it up and try and get a bit of an understanding of how different roles are played throughout the field – and to value what happens at the other end of the ground.”

With a 90-point lead heading into the final quarter, Martinoli said the flip was a learning opportunity for the Demons but wasn’t to discredit the Bushrangers.

“There's two ways you can look at it, you can stick with the full-strength squad and put on an extra 10 goals, or you can mix it up and share the footy around; share the goal scoring around to let the backs get the glory of having them named as a goal scorer.

“Then there is the negative side of it, of people saying, ‘Oh, they're not taking this seriously any more.’”

Martinoli said that the swapping of his players proved to be beneficial to both teams, with the Bushrangers able to score their first goals of the day.

“(The Bushrangers) actually did get a couple of goals of their own on the board after some great passages of play from them.”

Martinoli said a bit of fun wasn’t the only reason for the swap, with him hoping it will give his players better understandings of each other’s roles on the field.

“It gives people the opportunity to play a different position that they’re not used to; get to score a couple of goals when they’re normally the ones stopping goals.”

Adding to their already long list of 2022 Demons debutantes, Dubbo junior AFL players Brooklyn Tallbot and Zoe McAneney made their senior debuts. June Jones also returned to the team.

Martinoli said it is a privilege to have the junior girls play at the senior level, and it’s an important reminder to them that football doesn’t have to end at age 17.

“Both (Tallbot and McAneney) played really well. They stepped up into a bit of a higher standard of footy and slotted in really well. They didn't look out of place at all.

“I gave them some simple roles to do, and they both did that really well.”

For Martinoli, Claire Joshua and Martyka Schlumpf were players of the day. In just her third game, Joshua scored three goals. “She was just playing some really natural footy and just enjoying what she was doing, so it was really good to see that.”

Midfielder Schlumpf was given a new role just minutes before the game, but stepped up to it with ease.

The team finished with a massive nine goal scorers (Hazell 4, Coleman 3, Joshua 3, Warner 3, Connolly 1, Cullen 1, Dutton 1, Heidenreich 1, and Kelly 1) in the 18.16.124 to 2.2.14 win.

Acknowledging National NAIDOC Week, the club wore their Indigenous guernsey, designed by team member Trudy Sloane. Martinoli said the club decided to wear the uniform as a way to recognise the presence of First Nations people within the Dubbo Demons club community.

“It was something to acknowledge that it is NAIDOC Week, and that we do have a strong First Nations presence in the club, and in the team, so (it was good) to do that this week and also to celebrate the guernsey designed by Trudy.”

In a devastating and nail-biting loss, the Demons tier one men’s team went down by three points after a last-minute goal pulled the Bushrangers over the line. In club president Thomas Skinner’s 100th first grade game, the Demons left their all on the field but couldn’t get up against the undefeated Bathurst team.

Martinoli said he was pleased to see the club mark such a significant achievement that was a decade in the making.

“We do celebrate everything that happens around us. And it's a club success, it's not just an individual milestone.”

The Demons are back on the road this weekend to Bathurst where they will play the Bathurst Giants. Martinoli’s women’s team will be hoping to hand the Giants their second loss of the season. Meanwhile the tier two men’s team will head to Cowra for their game.