Grigg was most impressed with midfield newcomer Brendon Hollow and veteran big man Paul Kirby.

‘‘Brendon Hollow was the best four-quarter performer; just with his stoppage work and ability to run away from stoppages and use the ball well,’’ he said.

‘‘He’s an ultimate professional the way he looks after himself, training and food-wise, and sets an example for the other players.

‘‘Paul Kirby was relentless. It was a great tussle (with Ryan Smith), but he is relentless in what he does below his knees.

‘‘He competes in the ruck, but gets on top with what he does at ground level. He’s a really smart player.’’

Grigg said his team’s ball use going into attack was not always as good as it should have been.

‘‘It was ugly coming into our forward line, so our forwards did get frustrated, but it was good to see them continue to work out and back in to create space for others,’’ he said.

‘‘It was an ugly game, but we don’t care if we win ugly or well — as long as we win.

‘‘When we got the ball out wide (we had some nice passages of play) and that was our intention to get it away, but they created a lot of second stoppages.’’

VFL recruit Ben Waite (calf) should return for next week’s Benalla clash, but Leigh Owen (hamstring) and Tim Lanyon (unavailable) will miss.

Grigg said Owen was likely to be back for the round five contest against Seymour.

Swingman Billy Lovel will also undergo surgery tomorrow to repair the broken scaphoid in his right hand, which he sustained in last year’s finals, and faces an extended period on the sidelines.

‘‘Benalla is playing well and has recruited some players and has a new coach, too, so we start doing our homework on them tomorrow,’’ Grigg said.

‘‘We’ll need to get our match-ups right, understand what their strengths are and try and curb them and increase our strengths.’’

Read more about Rochester coach Peter White’s thoughts on his side in tomorrow’s News.