GSFL 2025: Mt Barker rain on Denmark-Walpole’s parade as they rampage to crushing 102-point round 11 victory

It should have been Denmark-Walpole’s day, what with the charity fundraiser, a club stalwart’s milestone game and the beautiful rainbow which graced McLean Park when it wasn’t lashing down, but Mt Barker stomped all over that idea with a 102-point triumph, their second three-figure margin of victory in a row. Unfortunately for the Magpies they looked nothing like the side which ran the Sharks so close a week ago, while the Bulls looked exactly like the team who walloped Royals by 166 in round 11. There was just nothing the home side could do to stop the stampede as the visitors took Saturday’s Great Southern Football League round 12 contest by the scruff of the neck to win 19.15 (129) to 4.3 (27). The feelgood factor was through the roof at first as Magpies’ Cord Brunings celebrated his 300th game with a 37-point win in the reserves and then a succession of supporters and volunteers splash-landed in a tank of ice-cold water to raise $10,000 for Parkinson’s WA. So far, so good and the applause was ringing around the ground. But once the game started the Bulls were all business racking up four goals before an incident of friendly fire robbed the already weakened Magpies of two key men. Tyler Stone and Simon Barker collided and were both poleaxed, Barker having to go to hospital with a suspected concussion and Stone also playing no further part. Unfortunately, as it turned out, that was only the start of things for the Magpies who went on to lose Dan Ryan, who rolled an ankle in the second quarter, Matt Clarke, who broke his nose in the third and Rory Dimmock, who suffered a cork and couldn’t play in the fourth. Magpies coach Brad Nisbett admitted his side had suffered a damaging defeat. “You never want to lose by that much,” he said. “If you are going to lose, you want it to be by an acceptable amount. “But they were a strong side, and we suffered a lot of injuries on the day, which didn’t help. “We didn’t have anybody on the bench for the whole of the final quarter and it turned into a bit of a blowout.” He is hoping Clarke will be able to play in their key game against North Albany this Saturday but was sure Barker would be missing and probably Stone too. For Bulls coach Gary Pope, it was a potentially tough game that was well managed. “They started off well but we just held our structures and created our attacks off our half-backs, as we usually do,” he said. “I was especially pleased with the second half; we had two quarters of rain but our handling was good. “We played the conditions really well and our forwards and midfield played well.” The Bulls controlled the proceedings with their relentless pressing, leaving the Magpies scrambling for crumbs. Alex Skinner, Tyreice Brown, Darcy Clarke and Mitch Jackson all fired majors in the first quarter, Toby LeFort the Magpies’ sole scorer in that stanza as they trailed by 19 points at the first break. That was as close as they got as the Bulls struck again almost from the second-quarter’s centre bounce and promptly added three more majors to lead by 35 at half time. That was when the Magpies’ nightmare really kicked in; their skills went missing in the rain while the Bulls had hands of velcro, every mark sticking as they went on a second-half rampage. The home side conceded four goals in the third quarter, but it might have been worse as the Bulls were also wasteful, kicking three behinds when, with a bit more composure, they could have piled on the points. The visitors dominated the clearances, bullied the midfield and gave the Magpies’ defence a torrid time. The one-way traffic continued in the final quarter with seven Bulls goals, the Magpies salvaging a modicum of pride with two of their own. The Bulls’ key men were Brown, who ended with a personal haul of four and played splendidly while Clarke, Brent Parsons and Darcy Wallinger also starred. Camball McMahon also kicked four and took the mark of the day while Keane Griffiths and Skinner finished with twice apiece. Their only downside was a yellow card to Seth Jones for a late bump on Ryan Hick. The Magpies’ best passage of play came late in the game, Jake Stewart finishing off a coast-to-coast move which briefly lifted the gloom before the final siren. Those who did best in a losing cause were Ryan Hick, Banjo Watkins and Stewart (two goals) and LeFort.