Fired-up Cobras wary of fast-finishing Swans

BALLARAT’S strong finishes to games early in the 2026 BFNL season have not escaped the attention of Bacchus Marsh, with coach Dennis Armfield emphasising the need for a full four quarter effort ahead of the Cobras’ showdown against the red-hot Swans this Saturday.

The Ash Baker-coached Swans will be heading into the contest full of confidence off the back of four straight wins and an overall 5-1 record.

They came from 17-points down at half-time before the break to beat Melton by 12 points.

A week earlier, the Swans led East Point by nine points at half-time before winning by 55 points.

And again in round 4 against Redan, the Swans held a two-point advantage at the main break, before pulling away to win by 50.

It’s a developing trend that has the Cobras on full alert.

“They are going along very nicely at the moment and seem to be finishing off games very strongly,” Armfield said.

“That’s the wisdom of not only the (former) AFL players that they’ve got in, but the wisdom of their group and their ability to connect.

“Ash gets them playing a pretty nice brand of football.

“Our work is going to be cut out, but it’s an exciting season and year, and it looks like there is going to be seven or eight teams fighting for the six, which is what you want.”

Consecutive wins over Sunbury and Redan has Bacchus Marsh nicely placed in fifth spot at 4-2, ready to pounce should any of the four sides above – Sebastopol, North Ballarat, Ballarat or Darley – falter over the coming weeks.

 

Armfield insists the Cobras have produced only the one really poor performance all season, that being their loss to North Ballarat.

Identified as a priority before the season, Armfield has been impressed by the tightening of the Cobras’ defensive efficiency.

“Bar one game … and I’ll take the North Ballarat one as an anomaly … I think we are setting ourselves up,” he said.

“They scored 74 points for the day and 64 of them were on turnovers.

“We are still finding that link and there is still work to be done.

“But ultimately now our defence is giving us an opportunity to be in every game and that’s really pleasing.

“Even the Darley game, at about the 14-minute mark of the third quarter, we were down by 10 points.

“We were right in it up until a few injuries happen and then they go bang.

“Our defence is working well and it’s not just our back six – it’s a team effort.

“Hopefully we build on that.”

Meanwhile, Baker said while the Swans had worked themselves into a nice position a third of the way into the season, a run of games against the Cobras, Sunbury, Darley and North Ballarat would paint a clearer picture of their standing in the competition.

“We’ve hit the ground running a little bit, but we have a tough run coming up, well starting (last Saturday),” he said.

“The month after the bye is going to give us a bit of a clearer picture of where we are at.

“I reckon we will know in a month’s time.”

Elsewhere in round 7, Sebastopol and North Ballarat meet in a top of the table clash at Marty Busch Recreation Reserve.

Darley will look to rebound following a rare two straight losses against Redan; fresh from its first win, East Point hosts Melton; and Sunbury clashes with Lake Wendouree at Clarke Oval.