Mooroopna looked to have beaten Tatura at its own game on Saturday as the Cats notched win number seven of the Goulburn Valley League campaign.
The Bulldogs are ranked first in the competition for uncontested marks and they’ve shown promising signs already in 2023 under the tutelage of first-year mentor Paul Barnard.
The Essendon premiership player has his playing group focusing on keeping possession of the ball and nailing the 45-degree angle kicks.
Tatura averages a tick less than 80 per match, yet at the weekend, Mooroopna forced the visitor to play away from its game style and at the same time, execute the plan better than it.
Mooroopna is ranked ninth for uncontested marks and averages 66.7 per match, yet on Saturday the Cats posted a whopping 92 compared to Tatura’s 61.
John Lamont addressed his charges at the quarter-time break with a big circle around the uncontested marking column.
Mooroopna had kept Tatura to six for the quarter, while recording 19 of its own.
Key stats
Disposals
Mooroopna: 347
Tatura: 263
Uncontested marks
Mooroopna: 92
Tatura: 61
Hit-outs
Mooroopna: 42
Tatura: 35
Clearances
Mooroopna: 27
Tatura: 39
Inside 50s
Mooroopna: 46
Tatura: 41
Turnovers
Mooroopna: 52
Tatura: 70
Disposal efficiency
Mooroopna: 74%
Tatura: 64%
Lamont’s men were also slightly more efficient with ball in hand in the opening half as they raced away to a match-winning 72 to 29 lead.
The Cats went at 75 per cent and 80 per cent disposal efficiency for the first and second quarter respectively, while Tatura was down at 61 and 71 per cent respectively.
Barnard highlighted the glaring issue post-match.
“The first half was poor, but it was poor because they were better with ball in hand, they took territory when they needed to and in front of the ball they were really clean,” he said.
Mooroopna was able to hurt the Dogs on turnovers in the first half.
Tatura coughed up the ball 18 times in the opening quarter and the Cats were able to pile on 4.4 (28) from turnovers ― with a further 4.0 (24) in the second term.
In comparison, Tatura managed just 3.3 (21) for the match.
The Bulldogs also broke down forward of the ball and went at 39 per cent for inside 50 entries, compared to the Cats’ 54 per cent , and managed an overall scoring efficiency of 31 per cent.