Jackson Trengove has more than 180 AFL games under his belt, but at the weekend he accomplished something he had never before achieved on the football field.
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The former Port Adelaide and Western Bulldogs utility booted 10 goals in Mooroopna’s 65-point victory over Rochester, the first time in his career he’s had a goal tally in the double digits.
Trengove was the star up forward for the Cats, with Mooroopna turning in an impressive second-half display to top the Tigers 19.10 (124) to 9.5 (59).
“It was nice to get on the scoreboard. I have been a little bit quiet of late, so it was good to get on the end of a lot the boys’ good work,” Trengove said.
“We were able to play the style of football that we wanted to, which we haven’t been able to produce. We linked in and it was a good performance by all the boys.
“Ten is very nice. John (Lamont) freshened me up last week with a little bit of reluctance on my end, but it was a really good call mentally as much as physically just to have a bit of a break away from footy.
“I had plenty of hunger to come out here and play well and it was good to enjoy a nice game.
“Ten goals is good, but I just felt like I was moving a lot better than what I have in the first couple of rounds with some niggles and bits and pieces.”
Trengove was slotting the ball home left, right and centre on Saturday afternoon, with a special fan in the crowd there to watch his dominant day out.
“I got to nine and I was pretty keen to get to 10. I have been up around the mark, but not quite 10,“ Trengove said.
“I had my son here to watch, which was nice, and the boys played really good footy which is what we are after at the end of the day.”
Mooroopna and Rochester were keen to head into the interleague bye on a high – the Tigers were looking to build on their first win of the season in round five, while the Cats were out to end a two-game losing streak.
Conditions were perfect for football and it was the Cats who gained the ascendency early on, kicking six goals to one in the opening term to hold a 22-point lead at the first change.
Rochester responded in the second term, however, with a resilient display – plus some ill-discipline from Mooroopna in the form of costly turnovers and 50m penalties – allowing the Tigers to cut the margin down to 10 at the main break.
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Workhorses: Ethan Hunt and Joe Atley fight for the footy. Photo: Bruce PoveyImage 2 of 9
Quick hands: Daniel Johnston dishes the ball of to a teammate. Photo: Bruce PoveyImage 3 of 9
Terrific Tiger: Joe Atley, who was best-on-ground for Rochester on Saturday, gets his handball away. Photo: Bruce Povey Photo by Bruce PoveyImage 4 of 9
Around the body: Darcy Russell takes a snap shot at goal. Photo: Bruce PoveyImage 5 of 9
Tiger sandwich: Rochester's Cooper Chapman is caught between two Mooroopna tacklers. Photo: Bruce PoveyImage 6 of 9
Perfect ten: Jackson Trengove was the main man on Saturday, booting 10 goals for Mooroopna.Image 7 of 9
Chase down: Xavier Chandler is brought down from behind. Photo: Bruce PoveyImage 8 of 9
Under pressure: Nathan Basile gets his kick away just in time as Declan Pearse makes a lunging tackle. Photo: Bruce PoveyImage 9 of 9
Evasive manoeuvre: Declan Pearse tries to avoid Mooroopna's Jack Hunt in the middle. Photo: Bruce PoveyThe two sides would have had different half-time talks following the second term, but whatever Lamont said to his Mooroopna side in the sheds, it clearly paid off.
The Cats put on a blistering display after the break, with Rochester simply unable to stick with them.
Mooroopna booted 10 goals to two and had 15 more scoring shots than the Tigers in the second half, kicking their way to an 11-goal win.
The Cats were yet to really hit their straps through the first five rounds, but Trengove said it was gratifying to see a four-quarter performance against Rochester.
"I thought we were hard at the footy all day. They challenged us in that second quarter and we were able to bounce back in that third and fourth and they only kicked two goals in the second half,“ he said
“We have probably been a little disappointed over the last couple of weeks in what we have produced. So for us it is just getting back to basics and who is in the team, who is out of the team, it shouldn’t really matter to the brand that you see on the weekend.
“I think that is probably the most pleasing thing for us as a group is just to deliver on that performance with a really solid four quarters of footy.”
A pair of familiar names excelled once again for Mooroopna and Rochester in the midfield, with Ethan Hunt and Joseph Atley having plenty of the ball.
Bryce Rutherford and Ben Woods were strong contributors for the Cats as well.
Alongside Trengove’s bag of 10, Daniel Johnston and Chris Nield kicked three and two goals respectively for Mooroopna.
Sean Williams slotted home four majors for the Tigers, while James McPhee booted three.