Geelong Advertiser | BFL coach Mark Hildebrandt says he’s disappointed with the 17-point loss to Wimmera in the interleague clash at Horsham, and is worried about the Bellarine’s slip down the rankings.
The committed coach called on the experienced heads of the league to pull on the boots to help the side climb back up to contention.
“I don’t think the Bellarine is really being represented to its true capacity the last 10 years, that’s probably why we’ve slipped down the rankings.” Hildebrandt said.
“I know it’s hard with family and commitments, I respect that ... but hopefully I could pinch a couple (of experienced players) and I did. Robbo (Adrian Robinson) and Tom Limb came along and they played really well.
“This year was a pretty good indication ... but at the end of the day we can only play with the people that put their hand up. These blokes put their hand up, (their) effort was 100 per cent, it just wasn’t good enough in the end.
“... but, as far as the results in-house go, that effort was absolutely fantastic, you can’t ask for anything more, they were absolutely great.”
Hildebrandt said he was keen to continue to help get the Bellarine back to the standard expected at interleague level, and was confident in the coaching team the BFL has put in place.
“I put together a coaching panel that has a vested interest in the Bellarine, we live on the Bellarine, we have kids playing in the Bellarine, we’ve played in the Bellarine. So we’re not going anywhere,” he said.
“So if they want me to continue on, we want to be involved in some sort of capacity — I’m looking forward to the future.”
Both sides started in scratchy fashion, slowly finding their feet in the once-a-year match. Wimmera had an eight-point lead into the first change.
The game opened up in a free-flowing and entertaining second term in which 16 goals were kicked. The Bellarine won the quarter off the back of spearhead Mitch Day, who booted five for the term.
The game was then in the balance at half-time 11.5 to 11.3.
Wimmera took control of the match after half-time, owning the third term, but were wasteful kicking 4.5 to the Bellarine’s two goals.
Bellarine kept fighting to the very end and, despite winning the final quarter, couldn’t reel in the buffer that Wimmera had held for much of the day. The final result was 17.13 (115) to 15.8 (98).
Day was awarded the Bellarine’s best player for his dominant performance in attack, while Sam Jasper was best on ground.