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DRYSDALE inflicted a heavy blow on three-time premiers Queenscliff with a shock 48-point win over the Coutas on their own turf on Saturday.
The miserly Hawks defence, held down by the likes of Steve Bensted, Jesse Collins and Josh Hopgood, kept Queenscliff goal-less for the first two-and-a-half quarters of the match.
The Coutas’ lack of scoreboard penetration was unprecedented, given they enjoyed just as much of the possession across the ground.
“Our backline was sensational today,” Drysdale coach John Fitzgerald said after the game.
“We were pretty strong at playing a really good defensive game, and part of that is probably trying to limit the opposition’s scoreline.
“They had a couple of key guys out, Grout obviously wasn’t there, so that worked for us.”
Missing from Queenscliff’s best 22 were a host of names including Nik Orvis, Roscoe Holmes, Steve Owen, Gus Donovan and Eddie Grout, which meant the Coutas had to rely on Daniel DeGois as the sole focal point inside 50.
This allowed Drysdale to lock down DeGois, who kicked just 1.3 for the match, and use the rest of its defence and some of its midfielders to repel off half-back.
“We ask a fair bit of our mids in the style of play that we have and they really did work hard,” Fitzgerald said.
“They got back to help carry the ball out, so that worked to a tee.”
Drysdale also had a slightly different look from last season, lacking the tall timber of Matt Baden and Jake Simons. — the latter being a late withdrawal. But the Hawks more than made up for it with Daniel Gage in the ruck and Paul Davis up forward.
Gage’s return to the Hawks after a three-year absence was welcomed as he used his strong physical presence around the ground.
And Davis’s agility and knack for goals means he could form a powerful duo with fellow forward Tom Dewey.
For all of the Hawks’ dominance on the scoreboard, their inaccuracy kept the door slightly ajar for the home side — to the point where the margin was just 27 points early in the final term.
“Probably, the way it fell for us we wasted a few chances to increase the margin,” Fitzgerald said.
“But I think it was terrific to beat the reigning premiers on their own ground.
“We had a good pre-season and three really strong practice matches, so we were pretty confident our conditioning would hold out for the four quarters.”
The result is confirmation Fitzgerald’s side is on the right track this season.
“You’re playing against teams you’re going to be coming up against for finals spots, so any of those that you win, it’s a great result,” he said. “Last season it probably took us three-quarters of the year to beat somebody above us or in the five, so to get a scalp first up in Round 1 is terrific.”
Queenscliff coach Tom Limb said the loss was a reminder of the quality the benchmark team was up against as it challenged for a rare fourth consecutive premiership.
“It’s a good wake-up call,” Limb said. “It’s not just going to happen for us. We can’t just expect things to go our way.”
