Tatura coach Paul Barnard described his side’s gritty performance against Benalla as an arm wrestle and, although the tendons got a fair workout, the Bulldogs flexed their muscle to emerge with an 11-point win.
Brodie Meyers shone with a best-on-ground display, kicking three majors during the visitors’ 8.10 (58) to 7.5 (47) triumph at Benalla Showgrounds.
“It was a really good win, we have 17 or 18 blokes out across both teams, so it was a test of the depth on our list; it was a character-style win,” Barnard said.
“It was very much an arm wrestle; it could’ve gone either way.
“But for us, we were in the same position as the week before, we talked about what we learned from the loss to Mansfield.
“We were a little bit clunky in the last quarter, but we fixed that up.”
Benalla won the opening quarter, kicking three goals to Tatura’s two to hold a slim four-point lead at the opening turn.
The Bulldogs then cashed in on a strong second term, reversing the margin to go ahead by a goal at the main break.
In a cagey third quarter just two goals were kicked in total and, although the final stanza was far from high scoring in nature, Tatura slammed the fist down to win the arm wrestle and chalk its name on the winners’ list for the first time this season.
Brody Webster put in a valiant performance for the losing side, kicking three goals, while the ever-prolific Josh Mellington also chimed in with three of his own.
Barnard labelled Meyers as a standout, also noting the competition is yet to see the full capabilities of his outfit with more to come from his young, hungry Bulldogs.
“Where we really impressed was in our contested ball,” he said.
“But we’re very much a work in progress, we’re trying to fix up certain areas still.
“I thought Brodie Meyer was outstanding in his breakout game for the league, he really controlled the ball and probably could’ve kicked five as a small forward.”