Sport

Moama soars home after slow start to vanquish Rumba

By Oliver Shedden

Jul 13, 2025

Tobias Thoolen starred in the ruck for Moama against Rumbalara. Photo: Jordan Townrow Photo by JORDAN TOWNROW

A fourth-quarter barrage led to Moama romping back against Rumbalara to secure its second-placed standing for another week in round 13 of Murray Football League.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

Travelling to Rumbalara’s Mercury Drive home ground, the Magpies were reactive throughout the first quarter, letting Rumba take the reins and dictate proceedings.

Nothing could split the two sides in the opening stanza, with both slotting 2.2 to set up a decisive second period.

A bag of five, including having the run of it in the lead up to half-time, meant Rumbalara found itself in front by 25 points at the major break.

With the Magpies caught snoozing, Moama coach Liam Barrett made a pivotal change to spark some inspiration in his side, especially through the midfield.

“At half-time we threw the magnets around a little bit and got a bit of ascendancy in the midfield,” Barrett said.

“We moved Jack Harland into the midfield and all of our leaders stood up and took control of the game, Mitch Lake, James Whitehead, Josh Kennedy and Zac Stovell all stood up in that back stretch.

“We kept the ball in a bit tighter in the middle and made use of it, just went back to basics a little bit more in the second half.”

That retaking of the middle proved highly affective for the Magpies as they limited Rumba to three minor scores in the third term, while Moama played catch up with 2.4.

The real master-stroke came down the home straight, with the Magpies nailing six goals to lift themselves over the top of the host and record an 11.11 (77) to 9.10 (64) win.

Barrett highlighted Rumba’s competitiveness throughout the match, while reflecting on his own team’s performance and attitude at this point in the season.

“Credit to Rumba, they played pretty well in the first half, they used the ball well and took the game on,” he said.

“We gritted it out and came away with the win in the end, which is what we are trying to achieve at this time of the year, just bank wins and move on.

“All of our leaders pulled through and Toby Thoolen was relentless all day in the ruck and worked hard.

“In that last quarter in particular, everyone had a moment where they played their role and stood up, which was nice to see.”

Barrett emphasised his side’s need to play the entire match, as well as looking ahead to Moama’s round 14 blockbuster match-up against Nathalia at home.

“We’ll try to eliminate the fluctuations in our game and attempt to maintain consistency across four quarters, which will be the main focus,” he said.

“Coming up against Nathalia this week, we lost to them in round one, so we know we’ll have to play four quarters.”