“These last two games are really our finals.”
In the gloomy realm of not venturing past August in Goulburn Valley League, Seymour coach Ben Davey has instead looked to the sunny side.
The Lions knocked over Benalla in a high-scoring, open-ended tussle at Kings Park at the weekend, and with tough fixtures ahead in Kyabram and Mooroopna to end the year, Davey wants to use the final fortnight as a barometer for where his side stands.
“We’re looking to get a win — straight up,” he said.
“We’re wanting to finish the year strong as well. They’re both tuning up their game to play finals — we’re not going to get to (do that).
“These last two games are really our finals. We’re looking to see where our guys are at and building into next year, that’s what we’re looking for.”
If anything, Saturday’s 21.12 (138) to 16.9 (105) win was a read on Seymour’s knack for hitting the scoreboard.
The Lions outfoxed Benalla six goals to five in the first and the flowing nature of scoring rolled right on throughout the game.
In Davey’s words, “it was a bit of a shootout”. He was not wrong.
Seymour led 93-30 at three-quarter time and, though Jack Murphy chimed in a minute into the last term, the Saints rallied back with two efforts to hold a three-point lead of their own.
But the Lions had saved their best for last.
Riley Mason kicked off a Seymour tide of goals, with six straight majors sailing through to no reply for the host to run away with a smash and grab win at the death.
It marked a special day for debutants Josh Porter and Tom Wardley, elevated from the thirds, to add to Seymour’s complement of four under-18s playing on the day.
Bleeding youth has been a feature of Seymour during an atypically low season results-wise, and Davey was delighted to hand senior jumpers to two more up-and-comers against Benalla.
“As soon as we knew we were in a bit of strife, we said we’ve going to give some guys an opportunity that they’ve probably missed out on last year and the year before when we’ve been really strong,” he said.
“It gives us a chance to develop our kids as well which is what we’re big on, so it’s been really good in that way.
“We had four under-18s play, so it was really about making sure they enjoyed the day and they got something out of it.
“Just really concentrating on how we wanted to play footy, moving the ball well (and) we did that most of the day pretty well.
“We turned it over a bit with some inexperience in spots that gave them a chance, too. The message was just to stick to the way we want to play footy.”
Davey indicated the youngsters had their moments on the day, but the game-breaking moments arrived in the form of Tom Maloney and Mason, the latter finishing with six goals.
“It’s funny with Riley, you just come to start expecting that sort of stuff from him,” he said.
“He hasn’t really dominated the game or anything, but then he’s ended up with six goals — it’s a bit hard to go past him.
“But Tom Maloney was outstanding, his last quarter was brilliant. I don’t know what he had in terms of touches, but it would be no surprise to see he’s had 15 and at least five clearances.”
For Benalla, Mark Marriott played a characteristically good game, while Philip Edgar had five goals to his name.