Think Mental Health Round of the Tyrepower Manjimup League season saw a full Saturday of fixtures, and with plenty of rain around the region, a chance to see how the competition’s leading contenders game plans held up in wet weather. With major events at all three grounds, an intriguing set of fixtures saw 1st and 3rd doing battle, 2nd taking on 4th, while the Johnson Cup would be contested between the 6th placed Imperials and 7th placed Tigers.
In Pemberton, the heavy rain couldn’t deter a large crowd from turning out to watch the highly anticipated appearance of Dane Swan in Southerners colours. While the appearance of Swan dominated the build up, Deanmill had a big inclusion of their own, with Harley Sparks taking advantage of a weekend off from WAFL duties with the West Coast Eagles to turn out for his boyhood club.
The game started in pouring rain and it was Southerners who attacked in the opening minutes. Alex Cabassi had the first meaningful shot on goal after a free kick for a throw. The kick landed slightly short in the heavy conditions and Jaxon Cahill looked for the sanctuary of the behind line to open the scoring for Southerners.
It took until the 9th minute for the first goal of the game, as Sparks showed his class with a clever kick that found Ben Gianatti. Gianatti managed the conditions well to kick truly and give Deanmill the early advantage. Gianatti was involved again as Deanmill built up to their second for the quarter, a sharp pass finding a sliding Ethan Dimitriou on the chest, who finished truly. In truth, the balance of the game in the first quarter was relatively even, with a couple of moments of class and game management seeing Deanmill able to get goals on the board. Possibly the best opportunity for Southerners came from a Nick Sarsero drive forward, with a skidding kick going inches wide of the goal post. Sarsero had a wonderful first quarter, on his way to a fantastic overall performance, looking like the type of player who thrives in these conditions.
Southerners again had a couple of forward entries early in the second quarter after trailing at the first change, 0.3.3 to 2.2.15. Minutes in however, a turnover deep in defence opened the door for Blake Rawson to kick his first, before he followed up with another barely a minute later. Archie Hall was standing tall in the ruck for the Hawks, though young Tyson Jacob was showing plenty as he continues his entry into league ranks. With the conditions getting wetter by the minute, the early four goal advantage Deanmill had mangled to build was looking ominous, with both teams having to adapt heavily to the conditions. Harley Sparks provided a moment of class with a snap from the pocket following a boundary throw in to extend the lead to five goals. Cody Jasper pulled the trigger on a fantastic snap to put Southerners’ first goal on the board late in the second quarter after Ben Cabassi put the ball to the hot spot following a free kick for out on the full. That closed the goal scoring for the half, as the players headed for the sanctuary of the rooms with the scoreline reading 1.4.10 to 5.5.35.
Blake East kicked the first goal of the second half after some precise kicking and hard running from Gianatti set up another shot at goal. Gianatti’s kick landed in a dangerous area and East was only too happy to blast one through from close range. Unbelievably, the rain got even heavier at this point and following some superb ruck work from Hall, the ball was drive forward to Blair Fowler. Fowler took it on the chest and kicked truly from 20 metres out to extend the margin to 38 points. The remainder of the quarter was largely played on Southerners’ terms, who just couldn’t hit the scoreboard to put pressure back on the Hawks. The scoreboard at the last change saw the home side trailing, 1.6.12 to 7.6.48.
Some great in close work opens the door for Ben Cabassi to finish off with a goal early in the last quarter. Minutes later, Brock Tempra found an open Cooper Sparks with a clever kick , who kicked truly to answer back. While the conditions didn’t suit Jordan Strahan, he found a way to contribute in the forward line and create opportunities for others, and he deservedly got himself on the scoreboard after a mark and goal late, the final major of the game. In trying conditions, Deanmill picked up an important 4 points in their chase for a top two spot, prevailing 2.7.19 to 9.7.61. Despite the soggy conditions, the crowd largely enjoyed a memorable day between two sides likely to feature in finals action and the day a Brownlow Medallist played for the home side.
In a highly contested game in the wet, space was at a premium and most possessions were under immense pressure in the Think Mental Health Round clash between Southerners and Deanmill.
In Manjimup, the Johnson Cup was up for grabs between local rivals Imperials and Tigers. Imperials’ form has largely been dependent on work rosters and availability, with their recent win over reigning Premiers Boyup Brook, followed by a triple figure loss, highlighting the battles for Matt Seymour to balance performance with players in and out of the side. Tigers for their part, were looking for a first League win of the season, with Aaron Watson fresh off leading the LSWFL Colts at the Great Southern Colts Carnival a week earlier.
Imperials got the best of the early going, leading at quarter time by 7 points, courtesy of a 2.3.15 to 1.2.8 scoreline. The likes of Tyler Ipsen and Alex Handcock were showing good signs early and the home crowd were happy. Unfortunately, from that point on, things soured for the home side as Tigers found some form and put together their best three quarter patch of 2025. From quarter time, the visitors outscored their hosts, 12 goals to 3, with Liam Edwards leading from the front with 4 goals. Tigers had the lead by half time, 2.4.16 to 3.8.26 and extended their advantage by a solitary point in the third quarter, leaving Imperials with a tricky but manageable 11 point deficit to overturn in the final quarter. Instead it was Tiger who piled on 7 goals on 0 to run away with a 55 point win and celebrate their first win of the year in Tyrepower Manjimup League action. Blake Johnston and Liam Edwards were fantastic for the victors.
Over at Kojonup, the local crowd looked forward to the opportunity to put a few local favourites in the dunk tank as part of their Big Freeze to support Fight MND. Before that however was a big clash with Bridgetown, who were coming off a 168 point win in Round 9 and a classic win against Southerners in their previous performance. It was Bridgetown who got the best of the scoreboard early, taking a 5 point lead to the first change. Brett Wilson was fantastic early, along with Josh Power at his usual high standard, while for the Cougars, Matthew Marinoni and Lachie O’Shea were prominent.
The game took a massive turn in the second quarter, with the Cougars piling on 7 goals to go to half time with a 35 point lead. Harry Taylor was dangerous up forward on his way to 4 goals for the game, while their ability to find goals from a range of sources was creating headaches for the Bulldogs. The home side ended with 8 different goal kickers, amongst them Mitchell Blakers, who booted 2 in his first senior game for 2025.
The Bulldogs did manage to peg the margin back a little in the third term, however Kojonup added another 5 in the final term to run out 40 point winners, 14.14.98 to 8.10.58. Despite the weather, a fantastic day of football for the region as we now head into the final 7 rounds of action, punctuated by the Nutrien Ag Country Championships in three weeks.
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