GNFL round 4 preview: Railways prepare to face Brigades after downing reining premiers

After downing reigning premiers Chapman Valley last round, Railways turn their attention to Brigades this Saturday as they meet in the game of the round at GBSC Sports Park.

Star signing during the off-season from Northampton, Flynn Dillon, was judged one of Railways’ best on ground last weekend against Chapman Valley in his first real test of the season.

Railways coach John Reynolds said Dillon was fitting right into the squad and the club as he continued to improve in the Blues’ midfield group alongside captain Jesse Adamini.

“Flynn has been great for us so far, obviously he has played five years at Northampton so he is still getting used to our style,” Reynolds said. “He has come forward though with some great ideas in our mids group and continues to gel well with the rest of the boys.

“Playing alongside Jesse helps too, his leadership all season has been great.

“Especially at half-time in the Royals game, I went to (Adamini) and said I needed more out of the mids and he took that and ran with it and led from the front.

“He was a big part of the shift in momentum that you saw in the third quarter, which allowed us to defend in the last term.”

Dillon now gears up to face last season’s JJ Clune medalist Hayden Johnson in the ruck battle this Saturday.

Reynolds said it will be a great match-up for both teams collectively.

“I think we match up really well, we both play a similar style so it will be interesting,” he said.

“There are things we want to work on that will we be taking into Saturday’s game and some individual match-ups too that we have our eyes on.

“One is obviously the ruck battle between Flynn and Spud (Hayden Johnson) and I think that will be one to watch.”

Railways went on a goal surge in the third quarter against the Royals in the Valley, flexing their muscles against the reigning premiers in what was a big win by the visitors.

The first half against Chapman Valley was an arm wrestle with neither team able to pull away on the scoreboard, an outcome that Reynolds said was something his side had prepared for.

“We came into that game understanding that it was going to be a really contested battle and high pressure,” he said. “Coming in with that mentality, understanding that it was just going to be toe to toe all day until we could open the game up a little bit.

“So we were quite happy to go toe to toe with them until we could find that bit of rhythm and then and get the right match-ups where needed to be, to be able to open it up.”

Judged best on ground in Brigades’ 64-point win against Mullewa last round was Dillon’s former Rams teammate Dylan Ralph, who has proven to be a livewire for his new side in season 2025 so far.

The crafty mid will be working alongside Johnson as the duo prepares to face off against Adamini and Dillion. Bounce down is at 2.30pm.

The women’s game of the round will also be at GBSC with bouncedown at 1pm when Brigades face Railways, with both teams still on the hunt for their first win of the year.

Railways will be looking to bounce back from their loss last week at the hands of Chapman Valley as they face off against Brigades, who come off the bye.

AROUND THE GROUNDSSaturday, May 17

LEAGUE

Rovers v Chapman Valley (2.30pm, Greenough Oval)

Towns v Mullewa (2.30pm, WA Country Builders Stadium)

Bye: Northampton

WOMEN’S

Rovers v Chapman Valley (1pm, Greenough Oval)

Byes: Northampton, Towns

RESERVES

Rovers v Chapman Valley (11.30am, Greenough Oval)

Brigades v Railways (11.30am, GBSC Sports Park)

Towns v Mullewa (11.30am, WA Country Builders Stadium)

Bye: Northampton

COLTS

Rovers v Chapman Valley (9.30am, Greenough Oval)

Brigades v Railways (9.30am, GBSC Sports Park)

Towns v Mullewa (9.30am, WA Country Builders Stadium)

Bye: Northampton