‘One of the best wins’: Curnow praises Dragons’ resilience

SANDHURST co-coach Bryce Curnow has labelled the Dragons’ 38-point opening round win over reigning premiers Eaglehawk as one of the best in his time at the club.

Any questions over the Dragons’ ability to rebound from last year’s grand final defeat to the Hawks were quickly dispelled by a display full of resilience and commitment at Canterbury Park on Easter Saturday.

They overcame plenty of adversity, down two key players before half time and with rotations severely restricted after the main break.With young gun Dayten Uerata (ankle) and Cooper Smith (ribs) sidelined, the Dragons still managed to hold sway by 19 points at half time.

Quick goals to Tyh and Billy Evans put the Hawks within a goal before the Dragons again seized control.

But a pair of goals to Eaglehawk in time-on in the third quarter, including one from long-range from midfielder Ben Thompson on the siren, threatened to undo much of the Dragons’ great third quarter work, with the margin just 13 points going into the final break.

But unlike last year’s grand final when they were overrun in the final quarter, the Dragons remained composed, sealing a 16.19 (115) to 11.10 (76) triumph with a four goal to one final quarter.

Curnow could not speak high enough of his players’ resilience.

“I couldn’t have asked for much more to be honest, it was a fantastic win and through a lot of adversity too,” he said.

“We were up against it … they were coming pretty hard in that third quarter.

 

“We had next to no bench for the second half and obviously a lot of boys, being the first round and pretty warm, either injured or cramping but staying on.

“We lost a lot of midfield rotations.

“To come out with a win and put more scores on the board, it was more than you could ask for as a coach.

“It was one of the best wins I’ve been a part of here, which is pretty big when you consider we’ve won a grand final in that time.”

While the two quarter-ending goals in the third may have set some Dragons fans minds’ racing back to last September, Curnow said no such thoughts permeated the coaches box.

“A lot of time was spent just trying to manage our players,” he said.

“We tried a bit of different mode of trying to shut the game down, but a lot of the thought process was, we lost Cooper Smith in the first half, we lost Dayten Uerata in the first half and Matt Wilkinson hurt his wrist, so how can we make this happen and run out of the game.

“But we got it done.

“It was written on the board before the game, that we weren’t resilient enough last year when Eaglehawk came in the grand final, so we’ve had a long time to reflect on that.

“We’ve addressed the grand final numerous times.

“It was their home game, the crowd was rising, but we just kept peppering the scoreboard.

“It was extremely impressive from our players.”

 

Back after nearly a decade away from Sandhurst, ruckman Lachlan Watson proved his immediate value with an impressive performance in an entertaining duel with Hawks big man Callum Heath.

“We didn’t really have a legitimate ruckman at times last year, so to have him battle away against Cal Heath, who’s come with massive wraps, we were rapt with what we got from him in the contest,” Curnow said.

“I was really impressed with Caleb Connick … one of the best wingmen in the league … but he’s tried to take his game to another level by going through the middle.

“He was especially impressive when the game got tight in the end.

“They’re a couple (of players) who come to mind, but there were so many moments.

“There’s always big moments in big games, and at crucial stages, but the boys kept stepping up.”

As telling as any stat, the Dragons booted nine goals against the wind in the first and third quarters, to the Hawks’ three in the second and fourth quarters.Fergus Greene was busy throughout in his new role on the wing, Harrison Free stout in defence, while Cobi Maxted made the most of his opportunities with four goals.

For his part, Heath was named as the Hawks’ best in the official best players’ list ahead of reigning league best and fairest Billy Evans.

Thompson and Joel Mullen (both two goals) never stopped trying, while Charlie Langford toiled hard in defence.The Hawks will look to rebound this Saturday against Golden Square, which is coming off an eight-point loss to Castlemaine.

A confidence-boosting win for the Magpies on their home turf came without the services of their three star off-season recruits, Dylan Landt, Zack Derksen and Jacob Bauer.For Sandhurst, a QEO clash against league newcomers Broadford awaits.

In other games, Kangaroo Flat hosts Castlemaine and Gisborne makes the trek to Harry Trott Oval to take on South Bendigo.