Seagulls in full flight over Tigers
BARWON Heads has established itself as the side to beat in the BFL this year after thrashing reigning premier Torquay by 89 points at home on Saturday.
Seagulls co-coach Mitch Herbison described the 25.14 (164) to 10.15 (75) win as “probably our best performance of the year”, with his side now two games clear on top.
The defeat was Torquay’s biggest loss since Round 5, 2011.
“It’s as close as we’ve had to a complete performance for the year,” Herbison said.
“I think our willingness to do the simple things well and tackle, those unrewarded selfless things, that was really pleasing from the coaching point of view.”
The undefeated Seagulls were simply faster, fitter and cleaner with the footy, and played football that was unpredictable to Torquay but predictable to each other.
Damien Horbury booted five goals, but Herbison, Cam O’Leary, Mitch Phelps and Brad and Luke Michell helped themselves to three goals each in a set-up resembling Richmond’s premiershipwinning mosquito fleet.
“We’re a little bit undersized down there but sometimes we’ve just got to scrap and give a contest,” Herbison said.
“We’ve got some pretty clever players down there when the ball comes to ground, so if we can get it to ground, that’s when we can come into the game.
“Today, as a forward group, the forward six played really selfless and created little holes for each other. There was a great spread of goal kickers, which is always good to see.”
The challenge for Barwon Heads now is to sustain its high level.
This time last year, the Seagulls were also 6-0 — and turned 9-1 at the halfway point of the season — but proved to be a class below Torquay and Geelong Amateur by season’s end.
They also made a flying start to 2016 at 5-1 after six rounds, but sensationally fell in a heap and slipped to seventh by season’s end
“We’ve got to make sure — we spoke about it last week — we’ve got to keep building and looking for areas to improve because there are plenty of areas for improvement for us,” Herbison said.
“If we keep getting to work on the training track ... we’re in a good position now and we’ve got to hold onto that position.
“The comp’s certainly even this year, so there are no easy games. I think the first six rounds have showed that any side can beat anyone on their day.
“I think our best footy is going well at the moment, but obviously we’ve got to keep getting better and better.
“It’s important just to focus on the things we can focus on, which are getting better as a team and improving each week and building on it.”