By Nick Creely
Who saw that coming?
An extraordinary masterclass in the wet and windy conditions saw Beaconsfield secure their first victory of the AFL Outer East Premier season on Saturday in a drubbing of Wandin at Holm Park.
Leigh McQuillen’s side – after two narrow losses to begin life in the new competition – stunned the Bulldogs in an incredible performance, running out 110-point winners and showcasing why they are one of the great attacking threats at their very best, 20.13 (133) to 3.5 (23).
In their first trip down to the south-east to take on one of their new rivals, the Bulldogs were blown away early, with the home side absolutely clinical with their ball movement, scoring five unanswered majors to take a five-goal lead into the first break.
With Scott Meyer up and running and dominating proceedings – as well as the likes of the impressive Jamie Plumridge looking a menace in attack – the Bulldogs couldn’t hit the scoreboard until the second term when young gun Patrick Bruzzese found a major, with the home side extending their lead to 59-points at half-time.
From there, things didn’t get easier for the Bulldogs, with the home side completely flattening the visitors in a scintillating third term, before slamming on a further four in the final term to extend the margin to beyond three figures.
McQuillen told the Gazette that this win was a bit of a statement from the club after a disappointing opening couple of rounds for his highly-touted side, and said that they went to work on the areas that have previously let them down.
“We let ourselves down in Round 1 and made a marked improvement the week after against Narre Warren,” he said.
“It was a long fortnight after the Round 1 loss having had such a big pre-season winning all our practice games.
“Taking nothing away from Cranbourne who are well coached, but we believe that we should’ve won that game especially after having 10 shots to two in the opening term.
“Credit to them, they opened us up defensively and it’s seen us spend 50 per cent of our time at training since then to defensively reset that.
“We’ve seen in the past two weeks that we’re a lot more defensively sound without ball in hand. So out of a negative there’s a positive and you have to look at the positives.
“We feel that our first quarters have been fantastic over all three games. We set ourselves the task to play each 30 minutes as a separate game and the whole team made this a focus. In essence we wanted four first quarters and that’s what we produced against Wandin which was pleasing.”
Making the win all the more impressive was the bursts of rain sweeping across the ground throughout the day, with the Eagles enjoying 10 individual goal kickers, including Plumridge who slotted five and Matthew Johnson with four.
Experienced heads Sean Dwyer and Jake Bowd were also instrumental in the win, while Bruzzese was the best on a dirty day for the Dogs.
McQuillen explained that while the final margin was somewhat of a surprise, he knew that his side – if they brought the right application and intensity – could get the result against a quality outfit.
“I was at that Round 1 game (Wandin v Berwick) and I too was impressed with Wandin’s win,” he said.
“It put us all on notice and made us do a lot of homework on them both from a coaching standpoint and with all the players watching vision of them mid-week.
“So we knew what we were up against, and our players knew who their key players were and what their strengths and weaknesses were, which helps having never played them in a regular season game before (they did meet pre-season in 2017).
“Application wise we know what we’re capable of. We have that belief that when we apply ourselves in that way that we can perform at that level.
“It gives you satisfaction after a tough month knowing that we have the capability to play with that type of offensive force while being sound behind the ball, but know that we need to do it against the old SEFNL teams as well so there lies our challenge this week.”
McQuillen said the Eagles were prepared for the wet and windy conditions, and had to adjust accordingly.
“We watched the conditions all week and knew what was coming,” he said.
“We selected a forward line suited to the conditions and the pressure they provided was exceptional.
“With the ball on the ground a lot more we had a lot of players up there with great closing speed and pressure which worked exceptionally well.
“The ground was in good nick too which helped and we were clean from the outset. Our focus this year has been on being more attacking so it was pleasing to see that pay off.”
One major positive for the Eagles is the form of champion ruckman Scott Meyer – who after an injury-interrupted 2018 – is playing some outstanding football, with McQuillen praising the big man’s impact and leadership as skipper.
“Scotty’s great to coach. He leads this young group well and often by example on the field,” he said.
“I get along really well with him and we often discuss different aspects of the club and team for future improvement or adjustments.
“It’s the kind of coach and captain relationship that’s vital for success and I have the utmost respect for him as a person and footballer.
“He seems to be getting better with age. His start to the season has been huge on the back of a broken ankle last year. Riley Welsh has come of age in the ruck too which has allowed us the ability to have Scotty deep forward.
“It adds another dimension to our side.”
Ahead of the blockbuster against Berwick on Saturday, McQuillen said this win was vital in gaining the momentum needed to topple a giant of local footy, and going forward with plenty more challenges in store.
“Confidence wise we knew we could bounce back but to get that kind of a win means we gain some momentum heading into Berwick,” he said.
“We’re still young but do not accept this as an excuse. Guys like Harry Paul coming in and playing like that, Plumridge, Brough, Tylah.Stokoe, Bromley, the Patullo and Homfray brothers, they’re all at the start of their senior careers but look very good.
“We believe internally that 2019 is a huge year for us, an opportunity to go as far as we can, then who knows at the business end, and we want to be in the best position possible come round 16 to launch into a successful finals campaign.”
