DESPITE falling to Hay by 66 points last weekend, Moulamein co-coach Brodie Tonkin is optimistic ahead of Saturday’s Round 2 Golden Rivers clash against reigning premiers Ultima.
Although the Roos go into season 2025 as one of the teams to beat, there has been a buzz around the Swans ahead of the new season, with an influx of new recruits joining new coaches Tonkin and Hayden Dalitz.
Even though the Lions comfortably accounted for Moulamein in the final wash up, it was still an encouraging performance, according to Tonkin, who told The Guardian this week that he is expected quick improvement as the season progresses.
“I’m pretty optimistic with where the club’s at, heading up to Hay in round one is never easy and although the scoreboard probably doesn’t make for great reading, I think in terms of what we saw throughout the day I was really happy,” Tonkin said.
“We’ve had a lot of changes over the past six months with myself and Hayden (Dalitz) coming into the club and changing our structures and game style.
“It’s never easy trying to play footy and learn all the new stuff that new coaches want to implement and that we’ve exposed them to, so it’s going to take a while to bed down.
“In the third quarter we got back to within 30 points of a team that played in the grand final last year, so I’m quite optimistic that we are on the right path.
“Having said that, it doesn’t get much tougher than playing than playing the two grand finalists in the first two rounds, but at the same time it’ll be good for the boys.
“We get to see where we’re at, what the best teams are like and it just shows that although we’re tracking in the right direction, there’s still plenty of room for improvement.”
That improvement is expected to come from the inclusions of key players Josh Wills, Trae Atkinson and Matt Edwards, with Wills and Edwards expected to help strengthen the Swans half back line.
The one negative for the home side will be the absence of lively goalkicker Brett Kennedy, who looks set for an extended stint on the side lines with injury.
Ultima will also move closer towards having a full strength squad to choose from, with Jake Foster set to play his first game of the season, along with forward Ryan Devereux.
Darcy Farrell was impressive playing as a first choice midfielder during the Roos 51-point win over Wandella, with Ricky Wild and Tom Bull also among their teams better players.
Despite an encouraging first up performance, Ultima co-coach Mitchell Seton-Stewart knows that his team will still need to improve out of the middle ahead of Saturday’s match, with the Swans on-ball depth improving over the off-season.
“I think we were really good around the stoppages and probably got on top in the midfield last weekend, but we also know Moulamein are a very strong midfield team,” Seton-Stewart said.
“Especially with Heath Moloney in there, he’s clearly the number one ruckman in the league and gives them first use out of the middle.
“So we need to try and nullify him and break even in the midfield and if we can do that, it will go a long way to us winning.
“We want to try to run and carry with the footy a bit more than we did last week, we were probably a bit too kick friendly and we’d rather see us use our hands and run and carry the ball through the middle of the ground and launch from forward centre and try to get some deeper entries.
“We were probably a bit too shallow with our forward 50 entries last week as well, we want to be hitting about 20 to 25 meters out from goal in order to give out forwards a good look at goal.”
Also in action this weekend will be Wandella and Macorna, with both clubs looking for their first wins of the season after opening round losses against Ultima and Murrabit.
Although the Bombers went in as underdogs against the reigning premiers, the Tigers would have been disappointed not to walk away with the points against last year’s wooden spooners, with an improvement needed if they are to challenge a team that played off in the preliminary final last season.
The final match of Round 2 will see Hay travel to Murrabit to take on the Blues, who will be aiming to continue their winning start to the season.
Jordan Lampi, Bryden Morison and Jack Shannahan were all among the Blues better players last weekend and will need to be at their best if they are to topple a hungry and determined Lions outfit.
