SEA Lake Nandaly are leading the way in 2023, with their 44-point win over neighbours and new rivals Nullawil confirming their premiership favouritism for this season.
The Tigers set up the win with a dominant opening quarter, booting 2.4 and holding the Maroons to just a solitary goal, despite Nullawil kicking with the aid of a strong three-goal wind.
In the second term the home team continued to flex their muscles, outscoring the Maroons to set up a 22-point half time lead.
Nullawil briefly challenged Sea Lake Nandaly in the third quarter, but were unable to bridge the gap heading into the last, with the Tigers running out 13.13 (91) to 7.5 (47) winners.
The result gave Sea Lake Nandaly a six-point lead at the top of the North Central ladder after just four rounds, remaining the only team yet to taste defeat this year.
Senior coach Bryce Delmenico was keen for his side to set a high standard during the remainder of the season, after staking their claim as the team to beat.
“We’re really happy with where we’re sitting at the moment, we’ve set a standard for ourselves now, so we need to deliver that every week,” Delmenico said.
“It was a good win, I couldn’t be any happier with the boys and the way we gutsed it out.
“The standard we set right from the start was great, it was a pretty strong wind on Saturday and we really fought hard kicking into it in the first quarter.”
While their start helped set up the win, Delmenico also noted the Tigers’ need for change at the main break, with some tweaks to their structure proving vital.
“After half time we addressed a couple of things – going forward, we were too congested in our forward line and our onballers were pushing too deep,” Delmenico said.
“We made some adjustments in pushing only one midfielder forward at a time and then set up a lot better behind the footy.
“Our forwards operate a lot better when they have space to work in and as soon as we did that, it was a different game.”
The main beneficiary was full forward Billy McInnes, with the Tigers joint coach finishing with six goals in a dominant forward-half display.
Ryan O’Sullivan was another influential Tiger, the veteran ruckman having an enthralling battle with Nullawil big man Dean Putt, while Trent Donnan and Austin Mertz found plenty of the ball through the middle for the winners.
For Nullawil, who tasted defeat for the first time since 2019 in the Golden Rivers competition, the standout was Jordan Humphreys, who provided plenty of drive off half back, along with the dangerous Matt Quigley.
While the Tigers may remain premiership favourites in the short term, one team who may challenge them is the much-improved Boort, with the Magpies moving into second place on the ladder with a 10-point win over Donald.
Jonathan Lanyon dominated in his first game back in the black and white stripes, with Alex Davis leading the way in front of the big sticks with three goals.
Birchip-Watchem continued their good recent form, with their second consecutive 100-plus point victory, this time over Wycheproof-Narraport.
The Bulls led from start to finish to come home with a comfortable 19.12 (126) to 2.4 (16) win, while Charlton secured their first win of the season, defeating fellow cellar dweller St Arnaud by 44 points, with Kris Clifford (Charlton) and Jake Hicks (St Arnaud) both kicking four goals each.
