HAMILTON Kangaroos teenage full forward, Hamish Cook, was a shining light for the home side on a wet, dull day at Melville Oval, as Cobden recorded a 116-point victory, 5.8 (38) to 23.16 (154).

Cook gave the home side a focal point up front and was rewarded for his strong marking, including ‘mark of the day’ in the goal square, slotting home four majors for the game.

The players were greeted with wintry conditions as the rain came down right from the opening bounce, and the crowd was aware they were going to see a tough game with the players having to defeat not only their opponents but also the conditions.

The early contests were evenly shared, as the ball rebounded between the half-back lines of each team, but once the first goal was on the board for the visitors, the game started to open out with Cobden getting the better of the play.

Cobden opened with a seven-goal first term, while keeping the Kangaroos goalless.

The second term was an even contest, as each side posted two goals for the quarter, but the undoubted highlight was the Cook mark.

The teenager swept across the marking contest right in the goal square at the Alexandra House end of the ground and leapt above the pack to grab a strong mark from which he calmly slotted the first goal through for the Roos.

It was a much better performance from the Roos in the second term, as they kept Cobden in check with much better defence and ball usage around the ground in the second quarter, going into half time trailing by 46 points.

Cobden bombed the ball into their forward line, but Kangaroos full back, Cameron Pither, was playing just as well as Cook was at the opposite end.

It was another seven-goal term for the visitors, as the Kangaroos posted three of their own with Cook lifting his tally to four.

The Kangaroos were only able to post a couple of behinds in the last quarter, as Cobden slammed home another seven majors to end the game as 116-point victors and post a percentage boosting victory.

Roos coach, Hamish Waldron said it was a tough outing, but a handful of players could be proud of their performances.

“There wasn’t a lot of positives that we could take from the game aside from the performances of Cook, Gill and Cameron Pither, but the side never gave up,” Waldron said.

“They could have easily done so but they stuck at it for the whole game, and while we were beaten by a big margin, I didn’t feel that they were a 116-point better side than us.

“Hamish gave us a focal point up forward and he played really well in the conditions, while I felt Rory Gill was very good in the midfield for us too.

“I picked several talls as opposed to the shorter running players that Cobden went with, so we look forward to the return game. 

“We’ll learn from that performance and regroup and prepare for the Portland game now. “

Cook was named as best on ground for the Kangaroos, and claimed the Reunion Medal from the 1993 Imperials premiership team who celebrated its 30-year reunion on Saturday.