MARYBOROUGH coach Ben Lavars says the Magpies’ finish to the 2018 season will be a great test of his players’ character.

The first-year Magpies coach could not fault the intensity, application and work-rate of his players in last weekend’s 51 point loss at Kyneton, as he has for the entire season.

Maryborough, which has just one win for the season, faces a tough final two weeks of the season against finals bound Sandhurst (at Maryborough) and Eaglehawk (away).

Lavars is hoping the young Magpies embrace the challenge of a pair of matches against quality opponents.

“These are the ones that will really test our character as a side – obviously we are not playing finals,” he said.

“Sandhurst will be vying for a top-three spot and Eaglehawk are there, so they will want to play as well as they can because it might come down to percentage.

“It will be a really good test for us to give it a crack and still make sure we are in the contest.”

Lavars, who joined the Magpies pre-season from Bellarine league club Geelong Amateurs, drew positives from his side’s effort against Kyneton.

The Magpies trailed by 35 points at half time, but were able to reduce the margin to 20 points at three quarter time with a four goals to two quarter, before they were overpowered in the final term.

“We’ve shown signs like that throughout the year, but the trouble is good sides like a Kyneton, we give them a shake and they respond and we probably just don’t have the bodies to go with them when they up that intensity,” Lavars said.

“The encouraging thing is the boys still have a crack, they try their best and try and stay in the contest.

“Not to use it as an excuse, the young side we have, sometimes we are just up and about, like the third quarter (against Kyneton) and things work well.

“We’ve had quarters like that through the year and obviously halves; the last time we played against Kyneton, against Eaglehawk and against South Bendigo, we’ve had a few good quarters – we just haven’t been able to put it together for four quarters.”

Youngsters Lachlan Bond and Connor O’Shea were among the bright spots against the Tigers, with Coby Perry, Luke Bucknell and Jacob Long also showing plenty.

Lavars was equally encouraged with the efforts of young key forward Will Sultana, who recovered from a nasty collision with a team-mate late in the second quarter, to kick two goals in the third quarter and spark the Magpies into action.

“The unfortunate thing was he did his ankle again, but he’s someone who is only 19 years of age, has a great set of hands and is a really good kick,” he said.

“Hopefully looking to next year – and he didn’t do much of a pre-season this year – he could be another good pick up for us.”

Lavars, who replaced Shane Skontra at the helm, signed for two seasons and will again lead the improving Magpies into battle next season.

He said while the losses had mounted, no one at Maryborough had at any stage dropped their head, with the playing group remaining up-beat as the season had progressed.