AFL Victoria Country Championships - Saturday May 23, 2015

Venue: Robertson Oval
Umpires: Tim Beard, Luke Olsen and Unknown
Riverina FNL ........ 4.6 .. 7.9 .. 12.15 .. 18.19 (127)
Tallangatta DFL ... 1.1 .. 4.3 .. 6.5 .. 7.5 (47)
RIVERINA FNL: Tom Groves, James Toscan, Daniel Kennedy; Marshal Macauley, John Anstee, Andrew Clarke; Shaun Flanigan, Jamie Maddox (capt.), Brent Rose; Jack Brooks, James Lawton, Harry Collins; James Kennedy, James Morris, John Buchanan; Ben Edyvean, Stace Creasy, Jayden Kotzur; Ryan Chamberlain, Matt Collins, Jonathon Gastin, Chase Grintell. Coach Matt Hard
TALLANGATTA DFL: Daniel Atwell, Andrew Cardwell, Rhys Hensell; Daniel Cassidy, Sam Bowler, Zac Oliver; Jayden Vandermeer, Tyson Smith, Joel Wilson; Nick Iaria, Trent Castles, Dylan Pritchard; Ryan Wallace, Guy Telford, Ryan Jenkins; John Willis, Trent Turner, Tim Brook; Tom Russell, Sam Bowers, Chris Anderson, Jake Fisher-Curnow. Coach Dale Smith
GOALS
RFNL: J Buchanan 5, J Lawton 3, J Morris 3, J Kennedy, J Kotzur, J Maddox, B Rose, C Grintell, J Brooks, R Chamberlain
TDFL: R Wallace 2, T Castles, G Telford, T Brook, R Jenkins, N Iaria
BEST PLAYERS
RFNL: J Lawton, J Anstee, J Kotzur, J Maddox, S Flanigan, B Rose
TDFL: J Willis, T Castles, T Turner, R Wallace, J Wilson. D Pritchard

Under 17's: Riverina FNL 6.15 (51) def Tallangatta DFL 7.4 (46)
Griffith reps: Jacob Conlan, Brady Chambers, Angus Coldwell, Brady French
Netball Grand Final - Opens: Picola DNL 27 def Riverina FNL 24
Netball Grand Final - Under 17's: Riverina FNL 22 def Tallangatta DNL 13
Griffith Under 17's reps: Renae Larkin (capt), Bayleigh Hogan.

A summary of match report, with thanks
Riverina League enhanced their reputation as one of the strongest county competitions in these parts with an 80-oint thrashing of Tallangatta League on Saturday night at Robertson Oval in Wagga. Riverina decided on a push into Victoria two years ago and made another strong statement by wiping Tallangatta League of the park 18.19 (127) to 7.5 (47). The home side, which featured three Griffith Swans players, dominated the contested football and then were far too slick on the outside to grab number one ranking in their new-look division.

James Lawton headed a dangerous forward line that ran rampant, while the backline was sensational all game, with the likes of John Anstee and Griffith's James Toscan leading the charge. The midfield worked tirelessly all contest, with Brent Rose and Shaun Flanigan captialising on the hard work of Jamie Maddox, Stace Creasy and Jayden Kotzur.

Riverina coach Matt Hard was pleased to uphold Riverina's strong representative reputation for the second consecutive year. "We picked the best 22 players available, and they all done themselves very proud," Hard said. "We're pretty proud of the league we play in, and we're associated with, and we really want to enhance its reputation, I suppose, and the only way you can do that is once a year you get to play a game of footy against another league and that's where you make a statement. "So, we're happy today that the boys have done that, made a good statement, and give the league some recognition." Hard paid tribute to the players' attitude to representative football.

"It was a really good win, they played good footy and to the boys' credit they were fantastic from day one," he said. "Rep footy is all about gelling as a group and to their credit they came here, had a great attitude and played some good footy." John Buchanan bagged a five-goal haul, while Lawton was dominant, albeit inaccurate, as he finished with 3.7.

Also having a win on Saturday was the Riverina under 17s netballers. Captained by Griffith's Renae Larkin, Riverina beat Tallangatta 22-13 in the final of their competition. (By Matt Malone - The Area News, Monday May 25, 2015).