Leading from the front.
Whatever you want to call it, that is what Benalla’s Chris Welsh has produced all season, highlighted by his performance against Rochester on Saturday.
Benalla’s season has been full of hard knocks and big losses, but across the past five weeks, the Saints have secured a couple of wins and pushed and threatened top-four teams, such as Mooroopna and Rochester, for three-quarters of a match.
At the centre of the Saints’ improvement is their fearless leader Welsh.
In his previous three games before Saturday, the Benalla captain had recorded 33, 39 and 32 disposals.
Against Rochester at Moon Oval at the weekend, Welsh recorded his most prolific game of the season.
The Saints captain had 44 disposals — the most of any player in Goulburn Valley League for round 13.
Of those 44 touches, Welsh had 24 kicks, 20 handballs, 15 contested possessions and five intercept possessions.
Welsh was also productive entering and exiting the arcs, recording six inside 50s and five rebound 50s.
In the guts, the Benalla bull blasted his Rochester opponents, with Welsh winning 10 clearances (four being centre clearances) and laying seven tackles (six effective).
Captain Welsh’s midfield masterclass
Disposals: 44
Contested possessions: 15
Clearances: 10
Tackles: 7
Inside 50s: 6
Rebound 50s: 5
The one criticism of Welsh’s game is his inability to turn that high number of touches into scores.
The Saints gun only had five score involvements from his 44 touches — nearly one in nine of his disposals led to a score.
Benalla’s captain also went at 59 per cent disposal efficiency in the match against Rochester, down from his season average of 70 per cent disposal efficiency.
In the Saints’ five remaining matches of the home and away season, Benalla has arguably four winnable fixtures against Seymour (which sits one place above the Saints on the ladder), Mansfield (at Benalla’s home and the Eagles are out of form) and Shepparton United and Tatura, who both sit below the Saints on the ladder.
Win three or four of these games and not only will it provide this young Saints side with invaluable confidence heading into the 2025 season, but the more wins they finish this year with, the more outside talent will be attracted to join a Benalla side on the rise during the off-season.
Finals may be out of the picture, but there is still so much to play for in season 2024 for these young and developing Saints.
The next five weeks won’t be easy, but with captain Welsh leading from the front and getting dirty in the trenches, these plucky Saints could surprise us all.
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