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STRATHFIELDSAYE co-coach Shannon Geary labelled his side's unselfishness as the standout quality of the Storm's 208-point thumping of Maryborough in the BFNL on Saturday.
With the Storm coming off a rare loss at home to Gisborne the previous week, the battling Magpies were always going to be in for a torrid day against a Strathfieldsaye side determined to rebound strongly.
And the Storm responded in ruthless style, dismantling the Magpies 33.21 (219) to 1.5 (11) at Tannery Lane.
With the Storm booting 33 goals - five in the first quarter, seven in the second, 12 in the third and nine in the last - you'd be forgiven for thinking at least one player ended the day with a big bag.
But although Kallen Geary snagged seven, the Storm - minus injured star forward Lachlan Sharp (groin) - spread load with their 33 goals kicked by 18 players.
"Losing to Gisborne last week, we obviously weren't happy with that, but you often learn more from those games than winning and we had 22 blokes today play really well," Geary said.
"To be honest, today was probably the most unselfish game that I've ever been involved in.
"Jye Formosa in the last quarter probably could have kicked four or five goals, but instead he passed it off each time and we didn't really take many shots at all from bad positions... the boys all looked for players in better spots inside 50."
Of the Storm's 18 goalkickers, seven slotted multiples - Kallen Geary (seven), first-gamer Malik Gordon (four), Tom Bennett (three), Lachlan Gill (three), Joe Mayes (two), Lachlan Ratcliffe (two) and Baxter Slater (two).
Geary was super impressed with the performance of Bendigo Pioneer-listed Gordon in his senior debut for the Storm.
"I reckon he would have taken 10 marks inside forward 50 and his lead-up work was great... he played really well," Geary said.
The Storm also had recruit Brady Hore play his first senior game for the club.
"Brady played on the wing and was good; he played to the structures really well," Geary said.
"There was a period of the game where Maryborough was getting a lot of ball on the outer side of the contest and he held his shape really well and was able to stop quite a bit of their run."
While the trio of midfielder Slater, who has had a strong start to the season, Kallen Geary and returning Jake Moorhead headed the Storm's best players, Geary described the performance as a genuine team effort across all 22 players in what was Strathfieldsaye's 17th-consecutive win over Maryborough - 12 of which have been by triple-figures.
In what was the second loss of the year by more than 200 points for the depleted Magpies - whose bye next week can't come quick enough - coach Rick Andrews said the 208-point margin could have been far worse had the Storm not shown some consideration for their plight.
"I can't speak highly enough of Strathfieldsaye today; the way they supported us was a real credit to that club," Andrews said.
"The way that Darryl (Wilson, Storm co-coach) coached was a credit to him.
"There were times when they really could have gone for the jugular, but he rotated the backs and forwards and played players out of position to give them a different look."
The Magpies' sole goal of the game was kicked in the third term by Damon Lewis, while on another arduous day for the club, Aidan Hare, who has been a shining light through the first six rounds, and Kya Lanfranchi at full-back both again battled tirelessly against the odds.
"I knew when I took the job on that we'd hit rock bottom at some stage and I think today is probably that moment," Andrews said.
"We're trying to remain optimistic... we've got some quality juniors coming through and quality people, we've just got to get more support around them."
SATURDAY'S BFNL SCOREBOARD:
Kyneton 3.2 6.3 11.4 15.5 (95)
Golden Square 2.1 6.6 10.12 12.16 (88)
GOALS: Kyneton: C.Manuel 5, B.Cameron 4, D.Bartrop 2, R.Magin 1, M.Crozier 1, A.Nolte 1, E.Turner 1; Golden Square: B.Vaz 4, J.Brett 2, J.Stewart 1, L.Jacques 1, Z.Murley 1, H.Morcom 1, D.Barrett 1, H.Burke 1
BEST: Kyneton: J.Orr, D.Bartrop, B.Cameron, F.Driscoll, J.Safstrom, A.Nolte; Golden Square: J.Coe, J.Merrin, J.Geary, B.Vaz, J.Hickman, L.Barrett
Gisborne 3.3 10.7 15.13 23.14 (152)
South Bendigo 2.3 3.3 5.4 7.4 (46)
GOALS: Gisborne: not supplied South Bendigo: not supplied
BEST: Gisborne: B.Blake, J.Kemp, S.Walsh, L.Spear, L.Ellings, J.Reaper; South Bendigo: M.Herlihy, C.Leon, N.Horbury, L.Byrne, S.Langley, I.Miller
Kangaroo Flat 3.3 5.4 9.11 11.14 (81)
Castlemaine 2.1 4.4 5.5 6.7 (43)
GOALS: Kangaroo Flat: M.Rovers 4, L.Wilson 3, E.Roberts 1, H.Lockhart 1, P.Murphy 1, L.Collins 1; Castlemaine: T.Cain 2, J.Chester 1, B.Keogh 1, C.McConachy 1, L.Wilkinson 1
BEST: Kangaroo Flat: M.Rovers, L.Collins, P.Murphy, C.Smith, M.Johnson, L.Wilson; Castlemaine: T.Cain, T.Horne, R.Pedretti, W.Moran, C.McConachy, J.Chester
Strathfieldsaye 5.5 12.12 24.17 33.21 (219)
Maryborough 0.2 0.2 1.4 1.5 (11)
GOALS: Strathfieldsaye: K.Geary 7, M.Gordon 4, T.Bennett 3, L.Gill 3, J.Mayes 2, B.Slater 2, L.Ratcliffe 2, B.Lester 1, D.Clohesy 1, F.Payne 1, T.Hosking 1, C.Ernst 1, B.Hore 1, J.Hall 1, S.Geary 1, P.Blandford 1, J.Schischka 1; Maryborough: D.Lewis 1
BEST: Strathfieldsaye: B.Slater, K.Geary, J.Moorhead, M.Gordon, B.Hore, T.Bennett; Maryborough: A.Hare, K.Lanfranchi, P.Chard, L.Hull, T.Gardam, L.Latch
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