Disappointing Dragons back to drawing board
BELL Park co-coach Luke Rayner admits his side didn’t have enough contributors in Saturday’s loss to St Joseph’s.
Coming off seven straight wins, Bell Park had reason to be confident against the table-topping Joeys, but was left to contemplate how far away it may be from challenging the GFL’s best.
The Dragons’ muchvaunted contested ball work held them in good stead in the opening term before being held to just one goal with the wind in the second quarter. Rayner was left in no doubt the work his side had to do to match it with the GFL’s benchmark team.
“It was probably just their level of efficiency,” Rayner said. “They’re a very good side. You’ve got to have a very even contribution from your group, and you’ve got to play really good team footy to beat a side like St Joseph’s and we just didn’t get that.”
Rayner rued his side’s lapse after quarter time.
“That was probably the quarter that really hurt us more than any other, and that was off the back of them winning the clearances and winning the contested footy, then probably exposing their skill and composure on the outside,” he said.
The loss leaves the Dragons six points adrift of second-placed St Mary’s, while Colac’s win over Grovedale has the Tigers breathing down their necks.
Making matters worse, forward Pat Knott was yellow carded for an off-the-ball collision with St Joseph’s forward Rhys Hultgren, which left him concussed and out of the match.
While Knott’s incident will likely be scrutinised by the match review panel, a trio of stars are close to returning.
Luke Rounds (shoulder), Tim Sheringham (hamstring) and Ben Johnson (knee) are all chances to come back in over the next two weeks. “We’d like to think Rounds is pretty close, Tim another one or two, and Johnson the same,” Rayner said.