Leader News |
SUNBURY coach Rick Horwood has lauded Lake Wendouree's positivity in negotiating the Ballarat Football League's Mount Everest.
The Lakers, down on experience and firmly in the midst of a rebuilding phase, resisted the urge to lock the Round 4 tussle down and instead took the all-powerful Lions on.
As a result Sunbury won in a landslide, 24.13 (157) to 4.8 (32), but Horwood was full of praise for the Gavin Webb-led travellers.
"They have a lot of young guys.
It's our responsibility to try and teach them how to play because their coach did the right thing and didn't block up the play or put numbers behind the ball," Horwood said.
"They didn't make it an ugly game of football. I said to our blokes that playing the right brand of football makes the competition a better one. They could have easily put two or three numbers behind the ball, but what do you get out of it."
But Sunbury itself was notably youthful, too, with a host of flag-winning stars stuck in the stands nursing injuries. Both Jay Cheep and Simon Clarke were missed, leading Mathew Medcraft to hold the fort, and he did so with gusto.
Josh Burgess was similarly spectacular, the Northern Blues VFL regular a standout leading forward and silky winger, and Jamie Lobb was awesome.
The Lions' line-up is a tough nut to crack despite the busy medical room, so much so Benjamin Said was forced to suit up in under-18 threads after being released for the day by the Western Jets. And Horwood's making no apologies.
"Our culture now is that you earn your spot and you don't give it up for anyone. None of our young blokes have deserved to be dropped, so the poor bugger had to play in the under-18s," he said.
Sunbury plays Sebastopol on Saturday.
