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QUEENSCLIFF reinforced its standing as the benchmark of the BFL by demolishing title contender Geelong Amateur on Saturday.
The Coutas had their best side in for the year with VFL stars Daniel Measures and Daniel Gibbs joining the recently returned Steve Owen and Brad Ridings.
The side was jam-packed with talent but it was the big men, in particular Eddie Grout, who really got the job done against the undersized Ammos.
Coach Tom Limb is blessed by an array of tall options, with Gus Donovan on the sidelines and dual premiership forward Ash McDonald playing in the reserves.
"We're very happy with the side we had today and having the VFL guys is obviously a bonus," Limb said.
"I don't know how much we'll get of them for the year now but they were fantastic in the way they led from the front today.
"At the moment with Ash he's playing really good footy at 12 o'clock, he's unlucky he can't crack a spot because we've got Eddie Grout playing really good footy and 'Frenchy' (Daniel Degois), Price and big Nik (Orvis) resting down there."
A relentless attitude is something Queenscliff prides itself on and was again pivotal to victory.
"That started under (former coach) Heath Jamieson - we really had a focus on that relentless pressure and sustaining that four quarters," Limb said.
"This was probably the first time we've sustained for four quarters and that's the most important thing we feel because when we're doing that we're on our game and playing well."
The undefeated Coutas have great depth, allowing stars such as Limb to push forward.
"We've got some great depth with our midfield and we'll just rotate through who gets the opportunities and everyone will get a chance to go through there," he said.
Amateurs yield to 'yardstick' - Christian West
GEELONG Amateur received a reality check at the hands of Queenscliff on Saturday, but it came at the right time of the Bellarine Football League season."We're glad we're having this lesson at this time of year rather than towards the end of the year," Ammos co-coach Andrew Lovick said after the 54-point
loss.
Lovick was disappointed in the way his side performed after an unbeaten streak of eight games.
"Things have been going OK up until today, but we were under no illusions of where we were at, and there was an article in the newspaper about that," he said.
"They are the yardstick, we knew that. They are the benchmark and we are the hunter and today's performance showed that we're a long way from it.
"We did come into the game fairly positive, definitely not ahead of ourselves, no complacency at all but it was a poor performance on the day."
The Ammos started the game matching it with the Coutas but in the end their skills and discipline let them down under the extreme Queenscliff pressure.
"We said to the group after the game that our accountability wasn't good, our discipline wasn't good, skill errors, decision-making. So we'll assess our performance and we'll assess it honestly," Lovick said.
"We've asked the players to have an honest look at where they're at as well, but what we do have now is eight or nine weeks to work on those deficiencies.
"We've seen where the yardstick is at and now we have some time and work to do to get up to that stage."
An issue for Geelong Amateur is the tall stocks, as it was undersized on every line against Queenscliff. But what came as a surprise was Lovick's revelation that the Coutas, even with their added size, were too fit for the Geelong Amateur on its home turf.
"We had to move Chris Kangars out of defence and into the ruck and we identified that ruck position in the pre-season but ruckman are hard to come by," he said.
"We're just doing the best with what we've got, but they're a fit forward line and they were too big for us today.
"I think they're a fitter side than us, so if guys want to win the premiership, to play good finals footy, they're going to have to be prepared to do the work outside of the football club."
The assessment was honest from Lovick and his coaching staff,
"All in all we're pretty happy to be having this reality check now rather than two weeks out from finals and we'll take it as a positive in the areas we need to work on," he said.
"They are by far the yardstick and we've got a long way to go to get there."
