Things appear to be going to plan in the Murray Bushrangers program, win or lose.
Boys head coach Mark Brown adopted a positive overall tone despite the Bushrangers’ defeat to Gippsland Power last Saturday on the neutral territory of Port Melbourne’s ETU Stadium, their first loss for some time.
Not as positive where the game itself was concerned, but more on that later.
The Bushrangers were bolstered by the return of several standout personnel from representing either Vic Country or the Allies at the ongoing under-18 national championships, including Shepparton swingman Matt Whitlock.
Unfortunately for Brown’s side, so too were the Power — with Heyfield prospect and fellow Vic Country rep Asher Eastham booting three goals in the opening term as part of an early blitz for the red, white and blue.
Trailing by as many as 33 points late in the first term, the Bushrangers were up against it all afternoon, but a flurry in the second quarter’s closing stages saw Ned Byrne, Josh Murphy and Joe Berry take their chances to really up the pressure.
Eastham’s game-high fourth of the day appeared to nearly put the Murray squad away, but Whitlock and Murphy combined for another late rally to limit the damage ahead of the final change.
The Bushrangers’ last shot had by then been fired, though, as another Vic Country member in Inverloch-Kongwak’s Jobe Scalpin put the icing on Gippsland’s cake in an eventual 11.11 (77) to 8.7 (55) win.
In the process, the Bushrangers, who put up four behinds in the final term including the final three scoring shots of the game, suffered their first defeat since April 7 against the Geelong Falcons.
The general balance of play, in a vacuum, did not sit well with Brown.
“I thought we were completely outplayed on the day and, in the end, the scoreboard may have flattered us,” Brown said.
“(The Power) reinforced why you have to bring real intensity and real effort. You have to bring discipline and all those non-talent-related aspects.
“We generally didn’t have the better of it across the board. Max Mahoney and Ned Byrne were solid again, but I just don’t think we played at the level of the last month.
“We were off it, but that’s okay because the boys understood that; now we have a chance to hopefully correct that against Greater Western Victoria.”
Indeed, the mindset now revolves around putting a disappointing outing firmly in the rear-view mirror and looking onward.
Brown mused that following a bigger defeat earlier this year at the hands of Geelong Falcons, the Bushrangers were able to kick it into high gear from there — and could do so again.
“We responded really well after the Geelong game. I’ve been really impressed with the way we’ve developed individually and as a team,” Brown said.
“To go away from that was disappointing, but we’ll review the Gippsland game with an eye towards what happens against GWV.
“If we play a good brand of footy on Sunday, that helps us review what happened against Gippsland, so we’ll wait and see how the boys respond this weekend.”
The under-18 girls also travelled to the metro area for their round 10 hit-out, taking on the Tasmania Devils at Craigieburn’s Highgate Recreation Reserve.
The winless Bushranger girls got the early upper hand and trailed by less than a goal at half-time as well as three quarter-time, but the Devils eventually put the foot down to prevail 7.4 (46) to 3.8 (26).
Getting among the goals for the defeated Murray side were Zara Findlay, Jazmine Holdsworth and Eliza Roche.