You won’t see a better performance from an individual this season.
Shepparton strengthened its case for premiership favouritism alongside Echuca after another dominant display on Saturday afternoon in its Goulburn Valley League victory over Seymour.
The Bears ran wild in the first half, leading 73-13 at the main break, before solidifying their lead in the second half to win the match 18.13 (121) to 10.4 (64).
While there were strong performances from Bears players across every line, Luke Smith was the best player on the ground by the length of the Hume Hwy.
Smith finished the match with a stat line similar to a child’s fantasy as he collected 40 disposals, 18 contested possessions, 10 clearances and eight goals and that’s only scratching the surface.
Shepparton was dominant in the midfield, winning clearances 43-27, while its forwards received plenty of supply thanks to the Bears winning inside 50s 59-31.
Bears co-captain Adam De Cicco also produced a monstrous game, collecting 32 touches, 10 inside 50s, nine clearances, nine tackles and two goals.
Meanwhile, defender Jonty Wardle (25 touches) and ruckman Ash Holland (47 hit-outs) were also influential.
Seymour’s disappointing start to the season continued as the Lions slumped to a 0-3 record.
Lions coach Ben Davey said that although his side wasn’t happy with how it had started the season, given that the team’s depth was being tested due to missing personnel, the squad was trying to focus on the positives.
“We have been very good for the last three seasons in a row and we are missing some key personnel at the moment, which has given some of the younger guys who have been in and out of the team for years, they are getting a real opportunity to play and get better, so it’s good in that way,” Davey said.
“We have lost Tom Maloney out of our midfield, he will be six weeks minimum.
“Someone like David Mundy (who hasn’t featured yet this season) playing for us will be a massive plus.
“We have got a couple guys at VFL, which is great for them that they are playing well and keeping their spot, in Ben Rigoni (Coburg) and Nic Quigg (GWS).”
In terms of where Seymour goes from here, the season is far from over and with the Lions’ next match coming up against a struggling Benalla, Seymour will be looking to get back to winning ways.
As the Lions hope to turn their season around, Davey has identified a key area of improvement for his young and inexperienced side.
“Really simple; our ball movement needs to be a lot better and cleaner,” he said.
“We are turning the ball over in some really bad spots around the ground.
“Which is something we are working on as we didn’t spend as much time on it (over pre-season) as we should have, so we have been focusing on that in the last two weeks.
“That improved even though the result was poor; based on previous games, our ball movement was better yesterday.”
Davey was quick to praise Shepparton as he shared his admiration for how the Bears have grown and developed over the past couple of seasons.
“Shepparton are a really good team and they have been building for a couple of years and Ted (Lindon) and the coaching staff have done a really good job building that team,” he said.
“Luke Smith, coming into the team, he has been outstanding and he is such a good person.
“They are an outstanding team and we may have moved the ball better in the second half, but there is also the factor of when a team is up that much at half-time, they do take the foot off the pedal a little bit.”
This weekend Seymour will travel to Benalla in a must-win clash, while Shepparton hosts Euroa in what promises to be a tantalising fixture.