A loss is a loss in football, as unsurprisingly, there are in fact no points for trying.
But if any were to be spread around to Goulburn Valley League sides which fell by the wayside from the weekend, not many would complain if the lion’s share was tossed the way of Shepparton Swans.
Jedd Wright’s red-and-white army gave a heroic account of itself during a 21.9 (135) to 11.7 (73) defeat to Echuca at Princess Park, but what the scoreline does not give away is how much of a shake and stir the Swans gave an opposition which usually has no time to die.
Take the first half, where the Swans kicked nine goals.
It’s a feat which cannot be discounted; no other side has yet managed it in 2023.
Seymour is the only team to kick more than nine against Echuca across an entire game when it beat the bottle greens by 12 points in round 10.
At home on Saturday, the Swans had clean palms in the first quarter as they put out 82 per cent handball efficiency which was upped to 90 per cent the following term.
They also bettered the Murray Bombers 27-17 in inside 50 entries, smashed the flag fancy 17-4 in forward 50 turnovers and, although the midfield steal count went the way of Echuca, Swans were much more clinical in that department kicking six goals from turnovers in the middle of the ground.
Zac Banch was an architect, a pure technician on-ball with his 17 disposals comfortably the best tally of the first half for either side.
He went on to rack up 29 touches with 22 contested possessions, 11 tackles, 10 clearances and a risible 14 total ground ball gets for the entire match.
Which begs the question; could the Swans have done the unthinkable if they had one or two more Banchs running around the ground?
It won’t be answered, but this weekend they’ll have a glimpse of the theoretical when similarly silky movers Nathan Hrovat and Max Clohesy enter the fold for the Swans’ clash with Mansfield.