Bloods hold firm against Bulldogs; Magpies next

SOUTH Bendigo co-coach Jack Fallon believes the Bloods took valuable learnings out of their narrow loss to Strathfieldsaye, helping them to weather the storm against a fast-finishing Gisborne in their round 3 clash at Harry Trott Oval.

The Bloods, the only team to have played three games, moved to 2–1 with a 12.19 (91) to 13.11 (89) victory over the Bulldogs (1–1).

With goals against the breeze at a premium throughout the contest, three to the Bloods in the final term proved worth their weight in gold as the Bulldogs surged from 16 points down at three-quarter-time.

The Bloods were unable to kick any goals into the wind during the second term, while the Bulldogs mustered two in the opening term and only one in the third.

Fallon praised his side’s persistence and commitment to hang on after the Bulldogs drew within a couple of points with their fifth goal of the final quarter.

“It was a real grind in the end,” he said.

“The wind going to the Strath end was playing a bit of havoc and Gizzy was able to use it big time in the second quarter and we were under a bit of pressure going into half-time.

“We probably didn’t capitalise as best as we might have in the third,” Fallon added in reference to their return of 5.8.

“But we were able to just hang on, despite us being under the pump.”

Fallon said the will was strong to not let another game slip after ending up on the wrong side of a see-sawing contest against the Storm the previous week.

“We took a lot of time during the week to watch a lot of footage.

“We stuffed up, but it was more about holding everyone accountable in their position,” he said.

“Some of our stat lines were down that we would have liked to have been up, so we really honed in on that.

 

“We still had a bit of a slump in the second quarter this week, but once we come out of that lull, we’re hitting the right marks.”

Any queries over the Bloods’ ability to muster enough goals in the absence of gun forward Kaiden Antonowicz, who is out for the season with an ACL injury sustained against Broadford in their season-opener, look to have been quickly dispelled.

They had eight of them, the same as the week before, with Brock Harvey leading the way with three.

“It’s heartbreaking for Kaiden; you never want to see anyone go down like that, especially a close mate,” Fallon said.

“But as a group now we’ve all got to fire shots, we can’t just rely on one person, like Brock.

“We have the ruckmen (Callum Crisp and Macgregor Cameron) resting there and they’ve been getting amongst it and a few others are having a dig.

“We’ve had a good spread of goalkickers and hopefully we can continue on with that.”

Missing for the bulk of the 2025 season with osteitis pubis, the Bloods benefited from another outstanding contribution from Josh Nitschke, winning praise from the coaching staff.

“Josh is flying. We saw nothing of him really last year and when he did play he was running around at about 40 per cent – his OP really stuffed him over,” Fallon said.

“But he is firing, in good nick and really taking the game on.

“He’s super fit – a real professional.

“It’s been great seeing the best of him through the first three games.”

Zac Hare, Brody Harrow and the Bloods’ ruck duo all played prominent roles, while Fallon reserved plaudits for Sandhurst recruit Jack English for a good job on Bulldogs star Brad Bernacki.

Pat McKenna led the way for the Bulldogs, ending up with five goals, while Dylan Johnstone, Braidon Blake and Zach Vescovi all rated highly.

Fallon said the Bloods would relish another big test this Saturday against an in-form and confident Castlemaine.

“There’s no easy games and they have some real A-grade talent, so we’ll need to watch them pretty closely and prepare well,” he said.

In other games, Cobi Maxted, Caleb Connick, Oliver Morris and Jacob Austin each booted three goals in Sandhurst’s massive 25.20 (170) to 2.0 (12) win over newcomers Broadford.

Eaglehawk rebounded from its opening round loss to Sandhurst to defeat a gallant Golden Square 10.19 (79) to 7.10 (52) at Canterbury Park.

Following a scoreless second quarter, the Bulldogs hit back in the third term to kick five goals to three to be within 14 points at three-quarter- time.

But the Hawks showed plenty of composure to push the margin out to 27 points with a three-goal-to-one final term.

Jonty Neaves, Joel Mullen, Lachlan Walker, Nick Hoare, Max Kennedy and Tyh Evans led the Hawks, while for the Bulldogs, co-coach Liam Barrett, Jack Stewart, Liam Hoy, Byron Ritchie, Isaac Corvo and Noah Warfe rated as the club’s best.

Gun recruits Dylan Landt (four goals) and Zac Derkson (two) had an immediate impact for Castlemaine in a 23.12 (150) to 8.14 (62) win over Kangaroo Flat at Dower Park.

Michael Hartley (six goals), Callum McConachy, Hunter Staples, William Marks and Oliver Britt were other standouts in the win, which has the Magpies in third place on the ladder at 2–0.

Daniel Stagg, Angus Macpherson, Zachary Rouse and Aaron Nevins toiled hard for the Roos.

Round 3 (Saturday 18 April): Eaglehawk v Kangaroo Flat; Gisborne v Strathfieldsaye; Castlemaine v South Bendigo; Broadford v Golden Square; Sandhurst bye.