Shepparton Swans signed, sealed and delivered a win to salute their travelling fans on Saturday and close out the 2023 season.
With no finals to follow, a younger-than-usual Swans side hit the park with a hiss and a roar as it booted seven goals in the first quarter against Tatura at Tatura Park.
The Bulldogs were unable to reel the Swans back in after the initial lapse, falling 16.6 (102) to 11.6 (72) to shut the book on their own campaign.
“Our first quarter, we were primed and ready,” Swans coach Jedd Wright said.
“We had a really, really young team in ― I think we had five out of the under-18s and I think we were 22 points for the day.
“Everyone was just really excited about the youth, we obviously started well and was able to hold the lead.”
Given the nature of Swans’ start, it’s no wonder Tatura was not able to keep pace.
While the visitors had a field day in front of goals during the first term, Tatura withered where it counted and kicked two behinds.
The Bulldogs and Swans mustered 5.1 in the second quarter which kept the breathing room in the latter’s favour and by three-quarter time Tatura had only shaved the deficit by one point.
The hosts finished the game strong and outscored Swans 20-7, likely leaving Paul Barnard and his coaching panel dumbstruck as to how the game had gotten away from them so early.
Meanwhile, Wright was rapt in the wash up ― especially the white-hot start.
“It was more about enjoying playing the footy,” he said.
“We had nothing to lose with it, the young side we had in it was just all about enjoyment. Go out there, take the game on, pressure really hard.
“On the flipside, we moved the ball really quick and controlled the game well I thought.”
Tatura was best served by Mitch Elliott, Chaz Sargeant (five goals) and Brodie Meyers.
Wright lauded the efforts of Ben Gilberto in the ruck, Joeve Cooper, Nathan Rachele, James Auld (five goals) and Rylen Damianopoulos (four).
He went on to review the 2023 season, saying the Swans’ rebuild is edging closer to a finished product.
“At the end of the day, if you’re not playing finals it’s not the end of the world whether you win one or seven because you’re sort of only there to play finals,” he said.
“But for us, I think we’ve definitely shown improvement on last year, now it’s just a matter of keeping the list together and bringing in the talls that we need to really compete with those top teams.”