Redan aiming to bounce back in Good Friday blockbuster

REDAN coach Gary Learmonth believes a standalone clash on Good Friday against Sunbury will give his side exposure to some finals-like atmosphere, with a big crowd expected to venture to Clarke Reserve.

The Lions will be looking for their first win after losing their opening game of the season against Bacchus Marsh by 19 points at City Oval last Saturday.

They were well and truly in the hunt all day, trailing the Cobras by a solitary point at both half-time and three-quarter-time, before a 6.6 to 4.0 final term swung the balance the visitors’ way.

The Lions were not helped by a knee injury to Grant Bell.

It continued a frustrating run of injuries for the Lions, who have lost young gun Liam Farnsworth for the season with an ACL tear and will be without recruit Harry Knight for an indefinite period with a shoulder injury.

Both sustained injuries in the Lions’ final practice match.

Given the setbacks, Learmonth saw enough encouraging signs to suggest the Lions can be one of this season’s improvers.

“I’m sure we’ve improved, but we probably can’t take too many more injuries. It makes things difficult,” he said.

“We’ve changed the way we play – our ball movement. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks that will come to the fore.

“We were just a little untidy early on, having not played that game (in round one).

“(Bacchus) Marsh were very good early and our touch was a bit off, but having one man down, we probably ran out of legs and made a couple of fundamental mistakes, which cost us in the end.

“It was a cracking game, but we just weren’t quite good enough.”

Learmonth said today’s clash against Sunbury, which pushed Darley all the way in a 17-point loss in their opening game and played finals last year, would be a stern test for his side.

“It will be a good chance to play in front of a decent crowd,” he said.

“If you want to play finals football, it’s a chance to get that exposure.

“I’d really like to see us continue to work on the things we practiced over the pre-season – the ball movement and our structure.

“We’ll get a few back from Rebels this week and also (2024 BFNL rookie of the year) Khy Jess back from injury, so it will be a good challenge for us.”

Zach Lang, who spent last season overseas, was the Lions’ best in his return game, ahead of recruits Brody Pope and Jordan Grant.

Meanwhile, Ballarat backed up a resolute effort in a round one draw against North Ballarat by defeating Sebastopol by 29 points at Marty Busch Recreation Reserve.

The Swans, who trailed by 10 points at quarter-time, set up the win with a strong latter half of the second quarter and a polished third quarter that reaped six goals.

For the second week in a row, coach Ash Baker praised his players’ effort and intensity.

“To get some reward for that effort was really good,” he said.

“It did get out to about six goals to three goals early in the second (quarter), but then we were able to get a bit of momentum back and start to get the game on our terms from then on.

“It was a great third quarter by us and we were pretty good in the last quarter, even though we kicked 2.7 from nine scoring shots and were a bit wasteful.”

The Swans were well led by midfielder Paddy Simpson, who finished with three goals.

Ben Wardley won plaudits for a good job on the Burras’ Hugo Papst, who was coming off a seven-goal haul in round one against East Point, but kicked only one against the Swans, while Tristan Maple rebounded strongly across half-back.

At 1-1 ahead of their Anzac Day clash against Lake Wendouree (0-2), Baker said there were still plenty of things to work on for the Swans, particularly their kicking efficiency.

“We need to take a bit more care with our disposal at times, particularly forward of centre,” he said.

“That’s something we need to work on.

“Pleasingly though we had a few guys hit the scoreboard.

“Paddy Simpson played midfield for most of the day, but hit the board with a few, and Jack O’Brien and Harry O’Brien got amongst them and Zac Rinaldi too.

“Heading into a bye with six and a half points is very pleasing.”