Kerang sent the rest of the Central Murray Football Netball League an ominous warning on Saturday afternoon with a comprehensive 93-point win over Swan Hill.
The Blues dominated from start to finish, keeping the Swans goalless in both the first and last quarters to run out comfortable 19.18.132 to 5.9.39 winners.
Last season’s Jack Betts Medallist Bryce Curnow did his chances of going back-to-back no harm with a commanding eight goal performance to earn himself best on ground honours, while Blues youngster Sean Hunter announced himself as a player of the future with four majors of his own.
Kerang moved the ball with precision by hand and foot, regularly slicing the Swans open with their outside run and their ability to move the football with speed.
It was a polished opening round performance from a well drilled team, according to Swans co-coach Matt Wade, who spoke with The Guardian post-game.
“The result was probably a combination of their confidence in each other when they have the footy to just roll the dice, dish off handballs and run and carry and the speed with which they move the ball really,” Wade said.
“Also, their set up behind the footy was first class – which, probably coupled with our decision making when going forward, left a little bit to be desired.”
“We knew Kerang were going to be a good side, they’ve got plenty of talent and when you come up against a club that’s been as competitive as they have for so long, you always know you’re going to be in for a challenge – we learnt a lot, we’ll take a lot from it and well go back to the drawing board.”
Wade and Xavier Moloney played to their usual high standard, as did Oscar Lewis off half back, but even with the home side breaking even around the clearances, it was the effectiveness that was the difference between the two teams, according to the Swan Hill coach.
“It felt like they (the clearances) were pretty even – but the difference was probably when they won them, they were just a lot cleaner and fed it out easier to their runners out the back of the stoppage, whereas when we won them, we probably weren’t as effective with hurting them,” Wade said.
Former Koondrook-Barham youngster Jarvis Keogh was another shining light on an otherwise dark day for the Swans – but it was a couple of Kerang recruits who stole the show.
Lachlan Ross (half back) and Nick Stagg (midfield) both impacted the contest in their first game in navy blue after crossing over from Sandhurst in the off-season – with both players further adding to Kerang’s match winning depth.
Stagg wasn’t alone in dominating out of the middle, with Sam Heavyside and Marty Kelly also having a day out. While Kerang co-coach Troy Coates was pleased with his teams four quarter performance, it was the manner in which his side moved the ball that most impressed him.
“The most pleasing thing from Saturday – and I said this to the boys – was how I think we’re going to be a hard team to play against, just because we of how we can change game styles and structures within games and how we have the flexibility to flip the magnets,” Coates said.
“Swan Hill zoned really well early on, were really well structured and pressed up really high as defensive unit early on, so we had to use the full width of the ground to move the ball by foot – but when their zone dropped off a bit in the second half, we were able to bring our handball game into it a bit more, which was really pleasing.”
“The other really pleasing aspect for me was if you were picking our best players, I think everyone would have probably had six different players, such was our evenness across the board.”
VOTES
3 – Bryce Curnow (Kerang)
2 – Lachlan Ross (Kerang)
1 – Nicholas Stagg (Kerang)
