Pioneers

By Justin Robertson
GIPPSLAND Power overcame a sluggish first half to earn a gritty 18-point victory over the Bendigo Pioneers in drizzly conditions at Highgate Reserve, Craigieburn, on Saturday.
The Power led by 13 points going into the final term and was challenged early on by a quick Bendigo goal, but Gippsland replied with two goals of its own for its third win of the season.
“It was a real battle with Bendigo,” coach Damian Carroll said. “They threw everything at us. We were really happy with the boys after half-time, they really responded well.”
The Power started the game with many regulars – Tom Bugg, Jed Lamb, Tim Northe and Dyson Heppell – missing while playing for Vic Country in the national under-18 carnival.
With a 24-point half-time deficit, it looked as if they were sorely missed.
“We were pretty disappointed at half-time,” Carroll said. “They had an opportunity to step up and they certainly weren’t doing that. But after the break they obviously improved a lot and, certainly, if you take your three or four best players out, you certainly struggle a little bit.”
Early in the first quarter, the signs were good for the Power, with goals to Marusic and MacDonald as they controlled the first 10 minutes of play. The Power wasted several inside-50 entries and through errant kicking.
Bendigo fought back with two goals from undisciplined 50-metre penalties, Gippsland had a quick reply through Carew and just before the first break, but Bendigo scored its third to lead 3.2 to 3.1 at quarter-time.
In a scrappy affair, Carroll wanted more from his troops and during the quarter-time huddle cited “selfishness” as the main culprit for their deficit.
“We need to be more desperate,” he urged.
With a slight breeze at its back in the second term, Bendigo was more efficient in attack, kicking 4.2. Gippsland had a handful of opportunities but could not translate clearances and inside 50s on to the scoreboard. In the space of five wasteful minutes the Power kicked three out on the full and booted two points.
At the main break the scoreboard did not reflect Gippsland’s dominance across the ground and it trailed 3.4 to 7.4.
But ultimately the game came down to 30 minutes of football.
It was the premiership quarter that turned the match for the Power. It booted 6.7 to Bendigo’s paltry 0.1, had more inside 50s (15 to 8) and doubled the tackle count (40).
MacDonald, Marusic, Butcher and Eddy all had an impact up forward, while Hoghton, Hector and Ross showed class through the middle and across the half-back line during the third quarter.
The Power reversed a four-goal deficit into a 13-point lead by three-quarter-time, but with Bendigo coming home with a two-goal breeze, the game was still up for grabs.
Bendigo kicked the first goal of the final term to get within eight points, but with two final-quarter goals from Power’s Butcher and Hector, the game was all but sealed in the heavy drizzle.
“We are pretty happy to come away with the win,” Carroll said. “Hopefully we can learn a bit from it and improve for next week when we play the Knights.”
Asked, what was said at half-time that resulted in such a prolific and match-winning third quarter, Carroll said “something needed to change”.
“We were pretty disappointed with our intensity and tackling and we were a little bit selfish at times,” he said. “But, we turned that round well and that was really pleasing. It’s what got us the victory in the end.”
Haydn Hector was one of the Power’s major ball winners, finishing with 32 possessions for the game.
“He was a solid contributor with a lot of the footy and was certainly one of the better players on the day,” Carroll said.
Dale Hoghton (31), Michael Ross (20) and Patrick Jones also played important roles across the half-back line and through the centre around the stoppages.
Coach Carroll reflected on MacDonald’s return from injury and said he was delighted by his game against the Pioneers.
“He started the first half a bit quiet but he responded and we know he is a quality player. He was solid today,” he said. “His work rate wasn’t up there and he fought back well and we were really happy with him by the end of the game.”
MacDonald finished the day with four goals and was the main goalkicker for the Power.
Shaun Marusic (two goals and 20 possessions, including 10 marks) led from the front all day, contesting and taking contested marks across half-forward in the wet, which won praise from his coach.
“He was fantastic, he kept us in the game for the first quarter and a half and we thought he was still pretty consistent after that,” he said.
With three wins inside the past month, Carroll refused to look too far into the season and conceded his team would have its work cut out in the coming weeks.
“It’s pretty hard to tell at the moment how things are going, with the Vic Country kids out and a lot of squads are a bit depleted with school footy, so I wouldn’t want to put a limit on where we could be by season’s end,” he said.
“But we know we have a bit of work to do to challenge the top end.”