Is there anything that can separate Seymour from Echuca at the top of the Goulburn Valley League ladder?
The Lions and Murray Bombers are destined to meet in a qualifying final to decide who will take the more straight forward route towards the grand final following Seymour’s 11.6 (72) to 7.7 (49) win over Tatura on Saturday.
With the top six already locked in all that was on the line for the Bulldogs at Kings Park was pride.
It was a hard-fought affair, but it was the Lions that got over the line and, while the performance was not what coach Ben Davey had hoped for, he did think the win was a good sign going forward.
“Very happy to get the win and keep winning,” Davey said.
“It wasn’t the most attractive game, but sometimes you’ve gotta be ugly. I think that’s a mark of a good team.
“If the players realise that they weren’t playing at their best and still want to improve I think that is a good sign.”
Seymour got off to the better start kicking three goals and held the Bulldogs to a single point.
It was a physical affair in the second period as both sides closed down scoring opportunities.
Tatura won the low-scoring second quarter by a point to trail the home team by 13 at half-time.
The game continued in a similar fashion after the long break as Tatura won the third quarter with the only difference between the sides being the Bulldogs’ chance creation.
The floodgates opened in the last quarter as a shoot-out got under way.
Confidence was the key for the Lions as they kicked six goals to the Bulldogs’ four and sent the visitors home with their tails between their legs.
Ben Rigoni stood out for the Lions, Davey looking forward to seeing how far the star can go.
“He’s an outstanding player, he’s won a Morrison Medal, he’s won the best-and-fairest, so it’s not even debatable that he’s one of the best players,” he said.
“Yesterday when a lot of players weren’t playing their best game and he (Rigoni) wasn’t having a great day either, just to lift himself and his team a little bit more was really telling that he is maturing as a footballer.
“He’s still learning his craft; he’s only played 50 senior games and he’s turning 22.”
Seymour faces Shepparton in its final regular season game and Davey says it will not shy away from the competition despite having a top two spot in the bag.
“We approach it by playing our best footy,” he said.
“Finals are a week away and there are four weeks of finals if you want to play in a grand final, so you’ve really got to start playing your best footy now.
“It’s going to be a really hard game playing Shepparton at their ground and they’re seventh, this is their grand final, this is their last game, so how do you think they’ll come out playing? Hard, super hard.
“They’ll want to get a win against the second-placed team to show that they might not be playing finals, but they are a really good team.
“The important thing is that we roll in thinking about this game and how we want to play really well.”