The rains came and Grassy recorded 28mls on Saturday morning and, after all the drainage work, a lot of people were wondering how Grassy Oval was going to fare.
There were no huge patches of water as in the past, but there was still a thin film of water all over the oval that made for slippery conditions. As the play progressed, the ground got muddier, however, there were some excellent passages of play and skill shown throughout the game.
North won the toss, elected to kick with the breeze and was quick to move the ball forward, only for it to be driven back out just as quickly.
Both sides ran well and moved the ball to advantage, with Justin Summers getting North on the board first with a nice running goal. Grassy soon followed with their first major through Tyler Smith from Currie, who had topped up for Grassy to give them 13 players for the game.
Grassy had Peter Cole home on school holidays and he played out of the centre, kicking a huge goal from just outside the centre square.
North got the ball forward but found it hard to score until Jeramy Summers marked and kicked truly.
Rory Taylor received a free on the boundary and was able to kick a nice goal before quarter time to see Grassy up by 8 points. Grassy got their act together in the second quarter, continually movingthe ball forward from the centre bounces or running it out of the North back line.
Tyler Rhodes was first to score, followed by Brandon Blomfield who kicked one off the slippery ground.
Brandon Blomfield and Justin Summers puddle paddling.
Jeramy Summers showed some nice wet weather skills to pick the ball up on the run and kicked his second for the game. It then became the Tyler Smith show as he kicked one from the boundary.
He then received the ball from a quick get out of the centre, only to miss a sitter directly in front.
He quickly made up for the miss, marking strongly when Grassy quickly moved the ball out of the centre again and he kicked his fourth for the game. North shifted Jeramy to the back line to stem the flow of Grassy goals.
He found Bailey Rainbow on a kick out, but he miskicked back to Jeramy, and it went out on the full. At the half-time siren, Grassy had increased their lead to 32 points. The third quarter was a tight affair, with little scoring for either side. Rory Taylor dominated in the ruck for Grassy continually giving them first use of the ball. Peter Cole and Tristan Forrest were able to find space at will, helping to drive Grassy forward regularly but unable to score.
Ben Cleeland was in everything for North and is improving with each game.
Mathew Button was also having a good game along with Lawson Hoare who is certainly moving around the ground a bit quicker than his dad did.
The Summers boys battled hard and young Harrison Lincoln is enjoying playing in the seniors, kicking the only goal of the third quarter. The fourth saw the ground getting muddy underfoot and players started to tire.
Bailey Rainbow was moved forward for North and on the receiving end of some nice play only to miss a sitter. Grassy were unable to clear the ball past the centre and it ended back in the arms of Rainbow, who did not miss this time.
Brady Rhodes received a free close to the goal and was able to kick it through.
There was a lot of slipping and sliding and North was able to get the ball forward but were only kicking points.
After some scrambling play in the Grassy forward area, they were finally able to score through Smith, as he kicked his fifth to help Grassy to a 27-point win in what was a good wet weather game.