Brothers Max and Leo Viitala lit up RB Robson Stadium for Wallan, shooting 40 points between them to lead the Panthers to a 102-78 victory over their former team.
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Playing with the Blasters since their under-14 days, Leo joined brother, Max, at the Panthers this season (with both living in Wallan).
And the result could prove disastrous for the rest of the competition, with the recruitment strengthening a Panthers outfit that last year reached the grand final.
“Wallan are better than last year,” Seymour coach Craig Hockley said.
“They’ve picked up Leo this year. He was with us when we won three in a row.
“Wallan would have to be favourites to take out the title.”
Lacking numbers for their clash with Wallan - due to a junior competition in Swan Hill - Seymour were put on the back foot early, trailing by 11 points at half time.
Rallying hard, the Blasters went goal for goal with the Panthers in the third term, before further pulling the margin back within eight points early in the final quarter.
But a lack of fresh legs, and several foul outs, meant the Blasters were reduced to five available players.
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The result was a blow out late in the game, with Wallan running over the top of Seymour to finish the match 24-point victors.
Despite starting the season 1-2, Hockley said he was content with how the team had started off their season.
“Our first game (against Wangaratta) was the disappointing one,” the coach said.
“We got within eight points of Wallan in the last quarter. Overall it was a pretty good effort.
“Robbie Sartori (29 points, including five three-points) really stepped up.
“And Zac Donoghue (17), he’s a first-year player. He stepped up, which was a bonus for us.
“He’s taken a couple of games to get used to our systems, but he’s fit in well.”
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Seymour has the bye this weekend, before travelling up the Goulburn Valley Highway to face the Shepparton Gators (3-1) on November 9.
The Blasters’ biggest challenge will be Shepparton imports, and heavy shooters, Atem Atem (avg. 24 points) and Javaan Mumtaz (18.25).
But Hockley said the Blasters would happily be up for the challenge.
“We’ll concentrate on playing defensive,” he said.
“We’ll work out the right match ups for (Mumtaz and Atem) and make sure we contain them.”
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