A sensational weekend of footy action in central Victoria.
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Here's five key takeaways from Saturday's play in the BFNL, HDFNL and LVFNL.
BRILLIANT START FOR LVFNL
After a big week off the field for the LVFNL last week, the league must have been ecstatic with how round one panned out.
Three of the four round one games were close battles that weren't decided until the dying minutes of the match.
The quality of the Bridgewater-Newbridge and Bears Lagoon-Serpentine-Pyramid Hill games was high.
You could mount a case that the biggest winner of the weekend was a team that didn't win - Newbridge.
The Maroons played some electric footy at times against Bridgewater - a marked improvement to what we witnessed in 2023.
Newbridge won't be winning the flag in 2024, but it will be a genuine challenger for the bottom section of the top five.
A tip of the cap to the club's committee and co-coaches Daniel Smith and Sam Gale for the work they did in the off-season.
The Serp-Pyramid Hill game showed the battle for the top three in the LVFNL will be the tightest and most entertaining it's been in years.
Exciting times ahead for Loddon Valley followers.
LVFNL RECRUITS WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN GOLD
Lachlan Sharp in a red and white jumper rather than the navy blue and white hoops.
At first glance it didn't look right.
While watching Sharp play in something other than a Strathfieldsaye jumper looked a bit weird, something that hasn't changed in his move to Bridgewater is his ability to terrorise opposition defenders.
When Sharp made the move to Bridgewater there was a school of thought that it might take a while for him to settle in because he wouldn't get the silky service he had for so many years with the Storm.
That theory was blown apart in round one as Sharp showed his class in a match-winning performance against Newbridge.
His eight goals came from a mix of marks and general play - highlighted by two brilliant goals from near the boundary line.
Bridgewater fans are going to have a lot of fun watching Sharp do his thing this year.
20km north at Serpentine, Josh Mellington wowed the Bears fans with 10 goals on debut in the win over Pyramid Hill.
The former Fremantle Dockers forward proved too good for one of the best defenders in the LVFNL - Dylan Morison.
You can't help but think that it won't be the last time Mellington kicks double-figures this year.
We've only watched one round, but the battle between Sharp and Mellington for the league goal kicking award is a tasty side dish to the main course.
THE FERG FACTOR
For older Sandhurst fans there was a sense of nostalgia on Saturday as Fergus Greene donned the number six for his first game back with the Dragons after stints in the AFL with the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn.
The number six was worn proudly by his father, Chris, during a long career with the club.
Ferg's six-goal haul was one of the highlights of Sandhurst's round one BFNL win over Kangaroo Flat.
While the Dragons will come up against much tougher opposition than the Roos, Ferg's potential impact on the Dragons' flag campaign was plain to see.
One contested mark, in particular, in the first quarter showed the athleticism, courage and strong hands that took him to the game's highest level.
From a Sandhurst point of view his value is much more than his individual attributes.
His presence inside 50 is the best footy present Cobi Maxted, Lachlan Wright and Joel Wharton have had in a long time.
Ferg draws multiple defenders leaving space for the others to do their work.
No longer does Maxted have the best defender and a third man up to contend with when he flies for marks.
Throw in Lachy Tardrew and Nick Stagg when they're resting forward and the Dragons have a smorgasbord of options in attack.
The one concern for the Dragons is co-coach Bryce Curnow.
A knee injury restricted his pre-season and it seems the Dragons will need to manage Curnow through the first half of the season at least.
PANIC STATIONS FOR THE PREMIERS?
Mount Pleasant's 0-2 start is not ideal, but there's been enough positive signs to indicate the HDFNL reigning premiers will be around the mark in September.
The two losses have come against arguably the two best teams in the competition - Heathcote and White Hills - and in both games it's only been one quarter where Mounts have dropped off.
Ironically, it was the third quarter in both matches. Across two games Mounts have been outscored 12.6 (78) to 5.2 (32) in third quarters.
This week's clash with Huntly is a great opportunity for the Blues to fix that problem.
However, if they take the Hawks lightly they could be staring at a 0-3 start. Huntly has only played once - a 66-point loss to White Hills. Aside from an eight-goal-to-one second quarter, the Hawks were competitive against White Hills.
SAINTS GONE TO ANOTHER LEVEL
Two rounds is hardly a large sample size, but geez you'd like to have stock in Heathcote for the HDFNL flag.
After just falling short last year, the Saints certainly appear to have a deeper squad this season.
In full-forward Corey Grindlay and midfielder/forward Zak Saad the Saints have arguably two of the top five players in the competition.
The addition of ruckman James Orr in the off-season was an under-rated move at the time, but by the end of the season it could be the best decision the Saints made.
For now, the Saints don't appear to have any weak links.
