Avenel coach Kasey Duncan said the event was a real positive for the club.
‘‘The stats are that suicide, especially in young men, is one of the leading causes of death in Australia. It’s just an awareness thing, getting people in the right frame of mind to know that they can talk to someone,’’ he said.
Avenel’s Braydon Avola was awarded a special best-on-ground medal for his efforts in the Swans’ 23-point win over Dookie.
The win sees the Swans undefeated in the opening two rounds of the season.
But the victory was well-earnt for the Swans who were playing with two men down against an invigorated Dookie, which had something to prove after coming off a 100-point loss in its season opener against Tallygaroopna.
‘‘It was pretty fast paced, pretty scrappy and contested, but we’re happy with the four points of course,’’ Duncan said.
While Avenel looked in control early in the match, a strong second quarter from Dookie and some wayward kicking at goal on the Swans’ part saw the home side challenged.
‘‘It wasn’t that we were playing bad, it was just that we were making silly errors. There were a couple of undisciplined 50s and down-fields that led to goals,’’ Duncan said.
‘‘I just had a positivity chat and said, ‘look, lets scrap that quarter and get onto the next one and focus on what we do well,’ and we came out in that third quarter and I think we kicked six goals to nothing.
‘‘It was a real credit to the guys to respond the way they did.’’
Avenel will now have two weeks off over Easter before its clash against Nagambie on April 27.
Ahead of the break, Duncan remains happy with how his team is travelling in the early stages of the season.
‘‘We’ve been challenged twice in a row and we’ve been able to respond. I’m really proud of the group,’’ he said.
‘‘Once we can start gelling a bit and put those four quarter efforts together, I really think we can be up that top end.’’
