The under-18 Murray Bushrangers have kick-started the season in white-hot form after a convincing 27-point win against Tasmania in round one of the Coates Talent League.
The match was played out at Craigieburn at Highgate Recreation Reserve as some of the Goulburn Valley’s top draft prospects had their first opportunity to impress AFL club scouts.
The Bushrangers led the match from start to finish, as they looked stronger than in their 2023 season.
But coach Mark Brown is adamant that the win-loss column is not on top of the list of priorities for his side.
“It’s a strange one because when we lose, I say it’s not about the win-loss, so I can’t really change my tune when we win,” Brown said.
“From our point of view, looking at the match, the most pleasing aspect of it was the way the boys competed in the contest; that was the focus going in.
“All the numbers suggested we were really good in that area. We were plus 30 contested possessions, plus 15 in contested marks, I think over plus 12 or 13 in clearances, plus three or four in centre clearances, so across the board, in all the stats that reflect your work in the contest, was really pleasing.
“It’s only a small sample size. We were strong in that area against Bendigo in the practice match two weeks ago and we were strong in that area against Tasmania again.”
The Bushrangers were in command of the match statistically and on the scoreboard, as their lead didn’t drop below four goals from early in the second half to the final whistle.
In the stats column, they led in most areas, including disposals (313-249), inside 50s (47-38), marks (89-68) and hit-outs (40-19), while they also won the free kicks 33-20 which is an indicator of their contested work and being first to the ball.
In terms of who to keep an eye out for from the Bushrangers on draft boards this season, Shepparton twins Matt and Jack Whitlock will be hoping to push for first-round contention.
“We played them (Matt and Jack) last year as very skinny bottom-agers,” Brown said.
“We exposed them heavily last year and, to their credit, that didn’t waver their confidence.
“Both have had strong pre-seasons and I think you see the reward for that on the weekend. Matt played at centre half-back, had 18 possessions and took six or seven intercept marks and, at the other end of the ground, Jack has had 20 possessions and kicked 4.4.”
Despite the Whitelock brothers making bright starts to their draft year at each end of the ground, Brown said the Bushrangers wouldn’t be afraid to experiment with their positions.
The coach also making note of two other potential draft prospects whose magnets may be moved around as well.
“There will be stages where we will do something different with both of them,” he said.
“Jack did a bit of ruck-forward for us last year and that’s when he started to pop more. Matt has some traits as a high forward, so there will be stages where they do different things, but for the first three weeks we will lock them into their positions.
“Now Cohen (Paul, Euroa) has gone out onto a wing this year and looked slick and there will be stages where he will go inside-mid.
“Darby Wilson (Euroa) is a fast and aggressive rebounding half-back, but there will be times when we might even stick him in the middle.
“We will give them an opportunity to bed down their preferred positions first and then, as the season progresses, we will look at doing different things.”
The Bushrangers’ next match is against Bendigo at Deakin Reserve on Good Friday, March 29 at 1pm.
Meanwhile, in the under-16 boys league, the Bushrangers lost to Gippsland Power by 31 points, with Tanner Armstrong (Rumbalara), Blake Sofra (Shepparton United) and Josh Porter (Seymour) featuring in the best.
The under-18 girls Bushrangers have a bye this weekend, with their season officially starting on April 14 against Gippsland, while the under-16 girls’ competition is complete with the side defeating Gippsland (58-45) and Bendigo (81-16).