SEPTEMBER came a few months early for Sandhurst last Saturday and co-coach Bryce Curnow was pleased with his side’s response.<\/p>\n
The Dragons withstood a fierce challenge from their 2025 grand final conquerors to win a tense and high-stakes contest at the QEO by 21 points.<\/p>\n
Their second meeting for the season in some ways resembled their first back in round 1 at Canterbury Park, with the Dragons stealing a crucial couple of goals break and standing tall in the second half as the Hawks challenged.<\/p>\n
A 10.9 (69) to 7.6 (48) victory saw the Dragons jump into third spot, level at 7-2 with Gisborne (second) and South Bendigo (fourth).<\/p>\n
Curnow praised his players’ resilience and ability to withstand a challenge against a Hawks team looking for their first top five scalp.<\/p>\n
“We were certainly challenged multiple times through the game and didn’t have a lot of ball on our terms,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We had to react and be strong and we were able to do that.<\/p>\n
“Luckily, they didn’t put too much scoreboard pressure on us, so we were able to stem the tide and break the game open a bit after quarter-time.<\/p>\n
“We unfortunately didn’t capitalise in the third quarter, where we could have finished off the game.<\/p>\n
“Credit to the boys, they pulled through and finished off quite well.<\/p>\n
“They (Eaglehawk) will be there and abouts this year.<\/p>\n
“They have had their injuries and different personnel missing for different reasons, but I’m sure they will be up there, so it was positive to come away with the points.”<\/p>\n
Co-coach Fergus Greene led from the front for the Dragons, ably supported by the likes of Liam Ireland, Oliver Morris, Cooper Smith and Matthew Wilkinson.<\/p>\n
A feature in recent weeks, the strong contributions from their younger brigade, was again highlighted by the impact of Jaxon Howard.<\/p>\n
“In only his 10th senior game of football, he played incredibly well,” Curnow said.<\/p>\n
“We actually started him forward and then he went down back and looked really strong.<\/p>\n
“Ollie Morris was another who stood out and Cooper Smith.<\/p>\n
“It was a great mix of young and old and leaders who did it for us.<\/p>\n
“We’re fortunate at the moment to not be relying on two or three players to win us games.<\/p>\n
“If we keep exposing the young guys to tough games, it’s surely going to pay off at some stage down the track and hopefully in finals if we get to that stage.”<\/p>\n
Pleasingly for the Dragons, the news from the medical room was good, emerging with a clean bill of health.<\/p>\n
“It’s nice to get a bit of continuity,” Curnow said. “We’ve had a few boys return to footy through the reserves in the last couple of weeks, which is really positive going forward.”<\/p>\n
The loss snapped the Hawks’ winning streak at two and finds them in a titanic battle for fifth spot with Castlemaine ahead of a clash against Golden Square.<\/p>\n
Ruckman Callum Heath, Charlie Langford, Joel Mullen, Billy Evans and Ben Thompson led the charge for the Hawks, who will need to improve their inside forward 50 efficiency.<\/p>\n
They got two goals on debut from mid-season recruit Jacquin Mifsud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEPTEMBER came a few months early for Sandhurst last Saturday and co-coach Bryce Curnow was pleased with his side’s response. The Dragons withstood a fierce challenge from their 2025 grand final conquerors to win a tense and high-stakes contest at the QEO by 21 points. Their second meeting for the season in some ways resembled […]<\/p>\n