The Courier |
IT is often said the difference between good and great teams is not the best six players on the field, but the worst six players.
Of course, champion teams need their stars where would Sunbury have been without the likes of Jay Cheep or Pat Cariss in the past few years, or Redan without Jarrod Edwards?
But as important as players in the upper echelon are to any side in the Ballarat Football League, it is the strength of some of the less-recognised brigade that result in success.
Take Sunbury for example, a side that is hardly starved of elite players.
On Saturday however, many of those players were not out on the park.
In total, seven members of last year's premiership side were not playing through injury.
In the team were two youngsters in their first game (Jack Landt and Ryan Ritchie) and another in his second (Jordan Baumgartner).
But in a true testament to both the club and the individuals, all slotted in seamlessly and steered the Eastern Lions towards a victory against their fierce rivals, Redan.
Great sides have depth.
Sunbury has depth in spades.
Speaking after the match, coach Rick Horwood said the victory showed the value of the strenuous program in place at Clarke Oval.
"To come here and beat Redan like that, it is a real tick for the program and our leaders," he said.
"The new guys haven't missed a beat in training and it showed out there today.
"It just shows great depth and it makes it so much easier when you can have guys step up like that."
At the other end of the depth spectrum is Lake Wendouree, a young side that has been severely ravaged by injuries.
There were seven forced changes at Wendouree Reserve from the round one side that lost by three points to Ballarat.
Incredibly, six players made their senior debut.
The result a 147-point drubbing at the hands of North Ballarat City.
The task got even tougher when coach Gavin Webb hit his head on the ground and was taken to hospital in the first quarter.
He will miss one match.
"It makes it hard when you haven't got a super amount of depth and you pick up half a dozen injuries," Webb said.
"The top sides, their first 15 players are probably level; it all comes down to the bottom five or six.
"I think you need blokes who are unlucky not to be in the team to have real success."
There is no doubt there will be a few Sunbury players on the verge of senior selection who will find themselves playing reserves football at some stage of the year.
But having these players knocking down the senior door is a true indicator of the depth winning sides, like Sunbury, must have.
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