Dragons deliver a pre-finals warning shot

IT took until the final round, but premiership favourite Sandhurst became the first BFNL team to notch up a win over all of its premiership rivals, outclassing Gisborne by 119 points at the QEO last Saturday.

The Dragons, led by stars Fergus Greene and Lachlan Tardrew, claimed their first win this season over Gisborne with a breathtaking 22.15 (147) to 4.4 (28) triumph.

It was a timely warning from the Dragons that they are not about to let go of their premiership crown easily and are hitting their peak at the right time.

They will have a break over the first week of finals, as Eaglehawk and Gisborne do battle in this Saturday’s qualifying final, and South Bendigo and Strathfieldsaye lock horns on Sunday (both at the QEO).

A ruthless win was highlighted by an eight-goal-to-nil opening quarter by the Dragons and a goalless first half by the Bulldogs.

There was no letting up after half-time, with the Dragons adding nine goals to four for a powerhouse win.

“It was a great effort by our boys, and on both sides of the ball,” Sandhurst co-coach Bryce Curnow said.

“A lot of people world argue we’ve done well to get 140-odd points up on the board, but we’ve done equally well to keep them to 28. They rested a few in the end and put them on ice and so did we in the last.

“But it was awesome to come up with a performance like that, especially in those first three quarters.”

In the wake of a pair of losses to the Bulldogs earlier in the season, Curnow was stoked to get one back on their great rival.

“I feel it was a win we needed to have,” he said.

“It probably didn’t matter what we won by, but it was important to give us that feeling of ‘we have got over Gisborne and we can do it’.

“We are a very young team, and although a few of the boys are premiership players, there have been a few move on in the off-season, so some of the boys might not have had much success against Gisborne before.

“To beat them will give those guys so much confidence if we come up against them again.”

The Dragons will head into September as the only team to have beaten all other contenders.

Eaglehawk, which jumped to second with a win over Castlemaine, is yet to beat Sandhurst or Gisborne.

Third-placed Gisborne has lost twice to South Bendigo, while the Bloods have not beaten Sandhurst or Eaglehawk.

Fifth-placed Strathfieldsaye holds one win over South Bendigo, but has gotten close to Gisborne on two occasions, including a five-point defeat in round three.

While rapt with their finish to the minor round season, Curnow cautioned the hard work was about to begin.

“We’ve got ourselves in a position where we are obviously going to be the hunted in the finals series – everyone will want to have a crack at us,” he said.

“But that’s a privilege too. We’ll look forward to it.

“We are still extremely respectful of Gisborne – they have had our measure a bit over the last few years.

“Them and Eaglehawk will be a great contest – two quality sides.

“It should be a good finals series coming up for the Bendigo league.”

A crushing win over Gisborne was spearheaded by a seven-goal haul by Greene, with great support up forward from Cobi Maxted (five goals) and Tom Campbell (one goal).

Curnow hailed Greene’s performance as potentially his best in his time at Sandhurst.

“He had a mindset going into the game to be quite selfless, but doing those selfless things, the ball just happened to end up in his lap,” he said.

“A lot of his defensive efforts turned into goals for others and he would get rewarded on the next play.

“That was an absolute captain’s game if I’ve ever seen one.”

Other standouts for the Dragons included Tardew, Campbell, Dayten Uerata, Oliver Morris and Cooper Smith.

Gisborne, which will enter the finals minus star ruckman Braidon Blake (surgery for a torn bicep), will look to rebound against Eaglehawk.

The Bulldogs defeated the Hawks in both minor round contests – by 11 points in round four and 15 points in round 11.

Round 16 recap: Sandhurst 22.15 (147) defeated Gisborne 4.4 (28); South Bendigo 29.17 (191) defeated Kangaroo Flat 7. 14 (56); Eaglehawk 10.11 (71) defeated Castlemaine 6.8(44); Strathfieldsaye 13.10 (88) defeated Golden Square 8.9 (57).

Week one finals tips: Eaglehawk, South Bendigo.