Last weekend was the appetizer; now it’s time for the main feast.
Round one of the Goulburn Valley League football is here, highlighted by a battle between two finals-hungry sides.
Shepparton will open its 2024 account when it hosts Mansfield at Deakin Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
Despite a heavy 74-point defeat to Echuca last weekend, the Eagles and their supporters shouldn’t be too disheartened with the scoreline, as it didn’t quite align with what the stats said.
The statistics were still in Echuca’s favour, but not to the level of a 12-goal drubbing.
Echuca won clearances (38-31) and inside 50s (45-39), while also leading in every pressure statistic, but the Eagles weren’t too far off the reigning premier as they were even in disposals and led in intercept possessions (67-61) and tackles (55-43).
The two areas that let Mansfield down were its ability to convert forward 50 entries into scores (43 per cent) and its ability to defend Echuca’s forward 50 entries, which scored from 68 per cent of them.
In terms of Mansfield’s danger men, cousins Harry Mahoney (22 touches, nine contested, eight tackles and five clearances) and Brett Mahoney (21 touches, nine contested, eight tackles and eight clearances) are bulls in the contest, while forward Ben Christopher (47 goals in 2023) is always lurking like a shark in front of the big sticks.
Mansfield coach Jack Hutchins said his side was happy to play the reigning premiers in the opening match of the season as it gave the Eagles a gauge of where they stood in the pecking order.
“I think we are doing a lot of things well in the way that we are moving the ball and our pressure on the ball and that was pretty evident in that first half,” Hutchins said.
“Echuca being such a good side; if you do turn the ball over in not a good spot, they make you pay.
“We turned the ball over in some spots which we simply can’t defend it, so we want to try and rectify that so that we are still taking the game on and playing the way we want to, but we still have some safety behind the ball to be able to defend if things turnover.”
At the end of last year’s home and away season, Mansfield and Shepparton sat in sixth and seventh place on the ladder.
Now, heading into the 2024 season, it appears both sides are on a similar trajectory again, with Hutchins expecting a tight, gruelling contest on Saturday.
“Our games with them last year were quite tight,” he said.
“We sort of play a similar way and we know they have had a pretty good off-season.
“We have got a few contingencies we can go to depending on how things look as the game goes on, but we are really looking forward to the contest.”
Shepparton co-coach Xavier Stevenson said his young side was buoyed by the return of the club’s 2018 premiership players Ash Holland, Joel Brett, Luke Smith and Liam Duguid ahead of round one.
Stevenson hopes the Bears’ mix of youth and experience can help drive the club back into finals this season.
“Our expectations for every game is that we want to win and we want to be super competitive,” he said.
“We want to play a brand of football that Mansfield will play; they are a really strong and contested football side.
“We know if we don’t win the inside, then that is going to go a long way for us not to win the game.
“We are really aiming to move the ball with good fluency and the main thing for us as well is that we want to pride ourselves on being relatively blue-collared, so high pressure and good at the source, and then we can get our running game going.”
In other Goulburn Valley League matches this round, Shepparton Swans face a tough start to the season when they host a star-studded Euroa line-up featuring players such as Will Hayes and Jett Trotter at Princess Park.
Tatura will have a chance to prove its finals credentials when it hosts one of 2024’s premiership fancies Seymour.
Last year’s grand finalist Kyabram will hope to kick-start its 2024 campaign at home with a win against Mooroopna under lights on Saturday night.
Benalla will be looking to prove it’s not a cellar dweller this season when it hosts Rochester at Benalla Showgrounds.
Meanwhile, Shepparton United will face an uphill battle when it makes the trip to Victoria Park to play this season’s flag favourite Echuca.
One FM is back this year to broadcast a game per round of the Goulburn Valley League season.
This weekend’s featured match is Kyabram hosting Mooroopna, with the broadcast beginning at 5.30pm.
· In Goulburn Valley netball, an elimination final rematch between Tatura and Seymour will highlight round one action.
Tatura won that bout convincingly 57-30 and will hope to do the same when it hosts the Lions at Tatura Park on Saturday.
However, Seymour is never an easy-beat side and will come into this match boosted by the addition of midcourt player Eleisha Saunders from Eaglehawk in the Bendigo Netball League.
Saunders arrives at the Lions in good form after claiming Eaglehawk’s A-grade best-and-fairest award last season.
After making the grand final in 2022, Shepparton United had a disappointing 2023, finishing in ninth position with six wins.
As United looks to surge back up the ladder, it faces a tough start away from home against last year’s premier Echuca.
Shepparton Swans will hope to make a case for their finals aspirations when they host one of the flag favourite, Euroa.
Mooroopna is aiming to start its season with a bang when it makes the journey to Kyabram to take on the Bombers.
Shepparton will head into its opening match of the season as favourite when it takes on a Mansfield side that went winless in 2023.
Meanwhile, Rochester will head to Benalla on Saturday, hoping to start its season on the right track with a victory over the Saints.