Key takeaways from big rounds of BFNL, HDFNL and LVFNL action

Here's five key takeaways from Saturday's play in the BFNL, HDFNL and LVFNL.

Brock Harvey should be a lock for the BFNL inter-league team to play the Victorian Amateur Football Association.

The classy forward won the game for South Bendigo on Saturday with a nine-goal haul against Castlemaine.

In an era where Lachlan Sharp, Joel Brett, Pat McKenna and Kaiden Antonowicz have dominated BFNL goalkicking, Harvey's rise has probably been somewhat unheralded by those outside of Harry Trott Oval.

67 goals in 2023 and 64 goals in 2022 in South Bendigo teams that were good, but not to the level that Sharp, Brett and McKenna were playing for at Strathfieldsaye, Golden Square and Gisborne respectively.

This year's South Bendigo team is solid, but unlikely to push for a top-three berth, so Harvey will earn every goal he kicks.

Just as important as Hartvey's forward craft is his loyalty.

He reportedly knocked back some huge offers in the off-season to stick with the Bloods.

Loyalty to your club and playing footy with your mates instead of chasing cash - a trait that we sadly see less of as each season goes by.

Sandhurst won its round two battle with Gisborne, but the result highlighted a potential chink in the Dragons' armour.

Gisborne's forwards looked capable of tearing the game open on Saturday.

Unfortunately for the Dogs they didn't make the most of their chances on the scoreboard and the Dragons collected the four points.

In the off-season the Dragons appeared to have the key defensive posts well and truly covered after they signed Will Wallace to partner co-coach Bryce Curnow.

However, Wallace is now unlikely to play many games for the Dragons after he signed with VFL club Northern Bullants.

He remains aligned to Sandhurst, but he's been in the Bullants' best players twice in three games and it's unlikely he'll find his way out of the Bullants team anytime soon.

Curnow reads the play better than most and his intercept marking is a feature of his game.

With Curnow battling injury early in the season, the Dragons are vulnerable down back against talls.

Liam Ireland and Isaac Ruff are terrific defenders, but they will have to give height away to opponents while Curnow and Sean O'Farrell are absent.

As Gisborne proved on Saturday, you can get looks at goal against Sandhurst, but if you don't make the most of your chances the Dragons will burn you at the other end of the ground.

Two rounds in and the Golden Square Bulldogs are under the pump.

The BFNL reigning premiers are 0-2 and the defeats, crucially, have come against two teams the Bulldogs were expected to battle with for a finals berth - Eaglehawk and Strathfieldsaye.

It's fraught with danger making predictions in April, but already there appears to be four divisions in the BFNL.

Sandhurst and Gisborne are the top two seeds, Eaglehawk and Strathfieldsaye sit on the next line, with Square, South Bendigo and Castlemaine in a three-way battle for fifth.

Kangaroo Flat and Maryborough are in the bottom section.

The slow start makes next weekend's clash with Castlemaine a must-win game for Golden Square.

A third-straight loss would put a top-three berth out of reach and make it mighty tough for the Dogs to even make the top five.

It's a mighty fall from grace just six months after the club celebrated a grand final triumph.

What do Marong, Bridgewater, Pyramid Hill and Bears Lagoon-Serpentine have in common?

They have the artillery forward of centre to post big scores.

Josh Mellington (BL-Serpentine) and Lachlan Sharp (Bridgewater) are two of the best forwards in country footy, let alone the LVFNL.

While the four clubs mentioned can regularly post cricket scores, it's how each club performs when they don't have the ball that could well be the deciding factor in this year's Loddon Valley flag race.

That's why, at this early stage, Marong remains the team to beat for the premiership.

The Panthers defensive structures are proven and the addition of Shaun Knott this year has added another major block to their brick wall across half-back.

The Panthers first big test in 2024 will come next weekend against Pyramid Hill in a return bout of last year's grand final.

You can't help but feel sorry for Heathcote's Zak Saad and the Saints coaching staff and fans.

The start of the season couldn't have gone any better for the Saints.

Star recruit Saad was living up to the hype around his signing and the Saints were playing some very good footy.

In the blink of an eye Saad goes down with a potential season-ending knee injury. Shattering for the young man.

Should scans confirm Saad will miss the rest of the season, it doesn't mean Heathcote can't win the flag.

However, it decreases the Saints margin for error.

Injury tolls for clubs at the pointy end of their respective competitions are about who is injured, not necessarily how many players are injured.

Saad is on the very top shelf when it comes to quality in the HDFNL.

Fingers crossed we get to see him light up the league again in 2024.