All eyes were on Avenel Recreation Reserve as the Swans and Lakers did battle for bragging rights in the local rivalry, and while a tight contest was expected, it was an in-form Nagambie that ran away with it, recording a 16.11 (107) to 8.11 (59) victory.
Lakers coach Harley Taylor-Lloyd was obviously ecstatic with the big win, lauding the younger members of his side that have consistently shown up in the early stages of the year.
“Yeah, it was a very pleasing win,” he said.
“Nothing against Avenel, but we've actually got a few out with injuries, and the boys that came in, the kids that have been able to step up, they were amazing yesterday, they did everything we asked.
“It was well led by Will Dalton in the first quarter, he was huge, and Lucas McKinnon our centre half-forward, he was huge also.”
The first quarter in general was huge for the Lakers, who put the Swans to the sword from the opening bounce, dominating the first 15 minutes of the contest to such an extent that they had more than half of their total score for the game on the board before quarter-time.
A nine-goal-to-three opening term saw Nagambie lead 56 to 20 at the first break. The fact they were able to find the middle of the big sticks with such regularity was a positive for Taylor-Lloyd, who spoke in the pre-season of his frustration at being unable to convert midfield dominance to scoreboard supremacy at various stages last year.
"Obviously Will (Dalton) is coming back off an ACL, he's finding some form and he's kicked four (in each of) the last two weeks,” Taylor-Lloyd said.
“Lucas McKinnon's got two bags of three in his two games this year. We've got some dangerous small forwards now, these 17, 18-year-olds who were playing last year, we were probably expecting a little bit too much from them, but now they're a bit more acclimatised to senior footy, they've been exposed to senior footy.
“Tom Barnes is another one, he's coming off a season-ending injury last year also, so we do have avenues to goal now, we just need to make sure we're getting deep entries and we're not wasting it.
“I think yesterday, finally some luck went our way, it just clicked in that first quarter and everything that we've set out to do finally just (went) to plan in that first 15 minutes especially.”
While the margin was reduced back to 23 at half-time, Avenel got no closer in the second half as Nagambie stretched the lead back out to the eventual 48 points, recording their fourth win from as many games to head into the bye undefeated, accomplishing another of Taylor-Lloyd’s pre-season aims.
“It was a big goal (to win the first four matches), once a draw comes out, you obviously try and pencil in your must-win games and that sort of thing, and I definitely put down the first four as all must-win games,” he said.
“The first four teams we played, and I've said it before, I think they're all pushing to be top six teams, so it's huge to bank the wins early and to make sure that we start off well.”
Sitting comfortably in second behind reigning premier Murchison-Toolamba heading into the bye this weekend, Taylor-Lloyd is hoping to get some rest into his group before launching into a round six match-up against Undera, although there is one eye already on the meeting with the Hoppers in round eight.
“We'll definitely keep the foot down,” he said.
“(We've got) Undera at home in two weeks, or 11 days, I've already sorted that out, I've done my quick maths this morning, so we've got 11 days (of break).
“We'll probably bring in three or four senior players that are available for the Undera game, so there's three or four probably forced changes.
“We've got a couple of mid-to-long-term injuries, so it will be just managing them, getting them right, especially in these weeks off, just managing the injuries when we can, the best we can, because we want to be fit and firing in a month's time come Murchison at the end of May.
“We're not getting ahead of ourselves, but that's huge, that's going to be a finals-like atmosphere, so we are just doing the right things.
“The bye has come at the right time, I've said that to a couple of people this morning, the bye has definitely come at the right time.
“The boys can have a week off, enjoy themselves and reflect on the month that's gone, and then we can set sail against Undera here at home, which will be another big game, a home game when everyone's up and about, the town gets behind you pretty quick.”
In the Saturday KDL action, Shepparton East flexed its muscles with a commanding 25.18 (168) to 2.1 (13) win over Merrigum, while Lancaster piled on 22.19 (151) to just 1.9 (15) in a 136-point thrashing of Stanhope.
Murchison-Toolamba proved too strong for Violet Town, running away a 19.11 (125) to 9.7 (61) winners, Longwood kept Tallygaroopna winless with a 14.12 (96) to 8.10 (58) victory, while Rushworth got on the board in 2025 with an 18.14 (122) to 6.10 (46) triumph over Undera.
22°C