Kew makes it five out of six in VAFA

It was a successful week in the VAFA for the Kew Football Club with five of its six teams ending up on the winning side.

Kew's Men's Senior and Reserves teams picked up their third wins of the 2022 Division One season to hold onto their top four placings, after they recorded comfortable victories over Peninsula Old Boy's Pirates last Saturday by 75 and 53 points respectively.

The senior team lead at every change, holding the Pirates goalless for the entire second half. Ned Waters kicked five goals while Mick Hannan booted three in the comfortable 14.21.105 to 4.6.30 win.

Men's Reserves coach Luke Marriot played his 50th game for the club in the 11.16.82 to 4.5 29 victory, while in the Thirds Division 3 men's, Kew came away with the four points after pulling away late against Prahran Assumption by 20 points after a two-goal to none last quarter.

In the William Bucks Premier Women's, Kew strengthened its hold on second place with a 25-point victory over West Brunswick, 5.2.32 to 1.1.7, while the Women's Reserves notched their first win in almost three years (1043 days) after defeating the top of the table and favourites West Brunswick by seven points at McAlister Oval.

In Men's Division 3, the Richmond Centrals put together a dominant four-quarter effort to record a comprehensive 107-point win against the Westbourne Grammarians to, 21.21.148 to 6.5.41.

Welcoming back some key players such as Thomas Rivers and ruckman Agneesh Lahiri from injury, the Centrals were far too strong for the Grammarians, after leading by four goals at quarter time before extending it out beyond 60 at the main break.

Senior coach George Koumanatakis was impressed with the victory, even though he believed his team had not played to its full potential.

"We just have to keep seeing that level of improvement and one of the things we touched on was making sure that we outscore our opposition and try and have a four-quarter effort, which we were able to do," he said.

"We are ticking off little milestones within each game each week so being 2-2 early on in the season is okay given the uncertainty and unpredictability within the competition."

Although it was a powerful offensive display for the Centrals, with nine players kicking majors, it was the defensive performance which stood out to Koutmantakis. Jack Bilson kicked five, while Justin Perillo and Jordan Miller each kicked four

"We are still playing a very inexperienced defence at the moment as we still have some key players to return hopefully in the next week or two," Koutmantakis said.

"These guys are getting fantastic opportunity to learn the craft of senior football and they are growing in confidence with each outing, so it is a win-win situation for us."

Round five will see the Centrals hoping to make it consecutive wins when they take on Canterbury, which is in third place on the ladder, at the Canterbury Sports Ground.

"It's a ground where midfield ascendency becomes important because the short length of the ground means that a clearance is effectively creating a scoring shot," Koutmantakis said.

"It is really important to make sure that we have our defensive mindset on and not allow any ball going forward. We were victorious there last year and have been in two of the last three visits there, so the ground doesn't hold any fears for us."

In the VFL, Richmond did not play on Saturday, but the AFL has confirmed the fixtures for rounds nine and 10.

Richmond will host Essendon on Saturday, May 21, with the game set to be played as a curtain raiser to the Dreamtime at the 'G clash between the top sides.

Round 10 will see the Tigers feature under Friday night lights when they play the Sydney Swans Reserves. As of yet, the venue has not been revealed.

In what will be a massive month of VFL footy, AFL-listed players in Jake Aarts, Tyler Sonsie, Judson Clarke, Samson Ryan and Bigoa Nyuon alongside a host of VFL-listed players, including 2019 Richmond premiership player and VFL captain Lachlan Street, will look to push the club into the top four.

The Tigers will take on Port Melbourne at ETU Stadium this Saturday with the opening bounce scheduled for 12:35pm. Richmond is currently sitting in eighth place with a 3-2 record.