Weekly Times | SOUTHERN Mallee Giants coach Geoff Burdett said the club was in a “honeymoon period” in its new home, the Horsham and District Football League.
The Giants have claimed their first major scalp — and one of the biggest in country Victorian football — four rounds into their inaugural season in the competition.
Southern Mallee Giants kicked five unanswered goals in the final quarter to defeat reigning premier Laharum, 11.5 (71) to 10.7 (67), and end the mountain men’s 23-game winning streak on Saturday.
It was Laharum’s first loss since the 2014 grand final and going into the match its record since the start of the 2013 season, when it was also premier, stood at 57 wins and six losses.
Southern Mallee Giants thrashed Rupanyup by 203 points and Pimpinio by 154 points in the first two rounds, and saw off Edenhope-Apsley by 50 points in Round 3.
Despite those initial results, Burdett said the club never thought it would be better off in the neighbouring Wimmera league, defined as a major league for transfer purposes by AFL Victoria.
“People say why aren’t we in the Wimmera ... we’re in a bit of a honeymoon period at the moment,” Burdett said.
“We’re new from last year and we might lose a few players, which we can’t afford to lose many, because then we come back to the field too, so going into the major league would make it very hard.
“We’re battling a little bit in our under-14s, our under-17s are just going OK, so we’ve got to remember it’s a full club, its not one senior team that controls where we play.”
A review of football in Victoria’s northwest completed last year resulted in the Giants’ former league, Mallee, disbanding and the Giants being sent south to the Horsham and District league.
AFL Wimmera Mallee region general manager Bruce Petering said the Giants were a “good inclusion” and had strengthened the district league.
He also called their juniors “middle to bottom of the road”.
“I suppose the concern was more the discrepancy within the league, not just the Southern Mallee Giants,” he said.
“All of those four or five top clubs are going to have significant wins against the bottom clubs the way it’s looking.
“To an outsider’s point of view it might seem we’ve put a club in that’s quite strong, but realistically what it’s done is given more competition at the top end of the district league ... but overall the strength of the competition has improved.”
Another former Mallee club, Jeparit-Rainbow — which was permitted to join the Horsham and District league last season by AFL Wimmera Mallee — is also undefeated after four rounds.