PFNL 2018: Johnson boots 11 as Baldivis cruise past undermanned Waroona

The ex-Carlton rookie starred at full forward with his double-digit haul the driving force behind a monstrous 20.12 (132) to 4.5 (29) victory.

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Overcoming the top-of-the-table Brumbies on their own deck was always going to be a struggle for the seventh-placed Demons, but the task was made harder with midfield star Rhett Mason and ruckman Andrew Leroy missing from the line-up.

To add to that pressure, Johnson produced his best performance yet in his fourth game with the Brumbies.

The former South Fremantle star was dominant after key forward Ben Higgs went down with a leg injury, relishing his role as the number one target in the Brumbies’ forward 50m arch as he nailed 11.7 on the day.

Baldivis was off to a hot start when they led by 28 points at the first break, a lead that was stretched to 49 by half time.

Johnson continued to produce the goods as midfielder Emmanuel Collard and ruckman Dan Griffin were on the same page at stoppages, with the blowout continuing into the second half where a seven-goal blitz in the final term saw the margin stretched beyond 100 points.

Brumbies coach Craig Hamersley was thrilled with Johnson’s day out.

“For Blaine to take on two-on-one contests for most of the day and still come up with 11 goals is just massive,” he said.

“With Higgs going down we needed him to be the focal point deep in the forward line and he was sublime.”

The performance is somewhat of a coming out for Johnson, who has faced tough clashes in his first three games in the Peel Football and Netball League. 

“No matter how good you are or where you come from it’s always hard to come to a new competition mid-season, so we’re really happy Blaine was able to have this kind of game,” Hamersley said.

“He’s still getting used to a few things in our league and he’ll continue to get better with time.”

The extent of Higgs’ injury won’t be known until later in the week, but any games the key forward misses could be a huge blow to Baldivis’ hopes of hanging on to top spot with Pinjarra snapping at their heels.

The Brumbies will look to overcome that adversity when they host South Mandurah – who dealt them their first loss of the year – at Baldivis Oval in round 15.