It was a disappointing start to the under-19s boys’ NAB League season for the Murray Bushrangers, falling 14.12 (96) to 7.5 (47) to a slick Gippsland Power outfit at La Trobe University, Bundoora.
A sluggish first quarter was the catalyst for the hefty defeat, as the Power utilised the blustery conditions to pile on six unanswered goals and have the game effectively over at the first change.
A five-goal onslaught by Tatura product Brayden George did breathe some life back into the Bushies after quarter time, but they found themselves constantly playing catch-up in a match Gippsland controlled for the majority of proceedings.
“There is no doubt it is disappointing (to lose), but I think the performance was reflective of our pre-season form, which was very inconsistent,” Murray Bushrangers senior coach Mark Brown said.
“There was a bit of breeze against us in the first quarter but (we) probably leaked a couple of easy goals due to some poor skill execution that very much had us on the back foot early.
“We need to flatten that curve and get a lot more consistent form line to our performance; at the moment we are peaking and troughing too much, our good is good and our poor is very poor.”
On the field, it was around the contest where the Bushrangers were really exposed, as Brown said an inability to win any clean ball made it difficult to get any sort of game plan going.
“We were smashed at the contest, losing the inside-50s by 20 — that is probably reflective of how comfortably we were beaten around the ball,” he said.
“They hunted the ball better, they were cleaner, they outnumbered us at the contest and when we did get our opportunities, we were just fumbly — so that final margin of 50 points was a good indicator of how the game played out.”
While it was a disappointing day for the Murray boys, there were a few bright spots, with George’s lone hand up forward and a couple of promising debuts giving the coaching staff hope moving forward into the season.
“They put a bit of work into Brayden (George) and matched him up with a tough defender, but to his credit he just worked super hard and when he got his opportunities he took them,” Brown said.
“He presented at the ball really well, took some nice marks and ended with five goals, so he was one of the few winners we had on the ground.
“Max (Clohesy) started on the ball before moving into defence and giving us some great bounce off half-back.
“While young Coby James is just a real neat little footballer. He had a couple of nervous moments early being his first game, but as the match went on he just got better and better, so he is definitely a talent to watch.”