Those who took too much notice of the pre-season script turned up to the QEO on Saturday expecting to see a new-look South Bendigo prove too strong for a patched up Eaglehawk.
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All the talk in the off-season was that the Bloods would push for the top five berth that had belonged to the Borough in 2015.
While one game is a small sample size, on Saturday’s evidence not much has changed from 2015 at all.
The Hawks are far from patched up, still have one of the best backlines in the BFNL and any win against them this year will be a good one.
The Bloods, who admittedly were missing some key personnel, turned the ball over by foot more often than a Kardashian looks in the mirror.
In the end, the 12.19 (91) to 6.6 (42) scoreline could have looked much worse for the Bloods.
“I’ve been in this game for a few years now and it seems we get written off a few times,’’ Eaglehawk coach Luke Monaghan said.
”Inside the club we’re confident and comfortable with our ability. We know we have good depth – our reserves were grand finalists and our under-18s made finals.
“We lost some experience… but there’s always someone ready to step up. I’m really happy with the kids we’ve got.
“I’m confident in our list, yes it’s young, and there’s going to be times when they go and up and down in performance, but they performed today.”
Damian Wust was one Eaglehawk player who stepped up. In arguably his best game at senior level in the BFNL, the livewire half-forward had a day out, kicking three goals and having a hand in another three or four majors.
Brodie Collins was the best midfielder on the ground until he copped a heavy knock to the head early in the final quarter and was taken to hospital suffering concussion. Jesse Collins, Tom Harrington and teenager Dylan Hanley were others to shine for the Hawks.
It was a coaching debut to forget for South Bendigo’s Brady Childs. The Bloods had showed plenty of good signs in practice matches, but struggled to find any flow in round one.
“All credit to Eaglehawk, they’re a good, young side and they ran and they’re well-drilled,’’ Childs said.
“Our skills let us down all day, I think we had 18 turnovers in the last quarter. The good thing about footy is that we have a week to turn it around and work on it.”
Former Pyramid Hill midfielder Liam Bartels showed some good signs for the Bloods, while full-back Brad Wright had an enthralling duel with Matt Gretgrix.
Former Carlton midfielder Anthony Franchina played his first game for Eaglehawk on Saturday.
“We’ve been chasing an experienced player all pre-season… and a midfield player and he fits both those bills very well,’’ Monaghan said.
“Today was the first time he’s met quite a few of the guys… you could see needs a few more runs under his belt but I’m sure he’ll get used to playing Bendigo footy well.”
