While Albury’s galaxy of stars played their part, it was the Tigers’ new brigade of young guns that led the way in their 80-point destruction of North Albury on Saturday.

Josh Robinson, Joel O’Connell and Lonnie Hampton were nothing short of exceptional as the Tigers ran riot at Bunton Park.

Robinson, who finished with three goals, was lively early and at his most productive when the game was in the balance.

Hampton was electric, kicking three goals himself and more than playing his part in helping to set up a host of other opportunities for Tigers in front of goal.

O’Connell, though, was probably the pick of the bunch.

The young tagger restricted North Albury star Jason Gram to yet another single-figure possession total, completely blanketing the influence of the former St Kilda ace on the contest.

It sapped the Hoppers’ confidence.

Like Daly, who is now one of the Tigers’ captains, the young trio have been forced to work their way into the Albury line-up.

They haven’t been gifted games, with O’Connell and Robinson in particular spending time in the reserves last season.

But again, like Daly, it’s hard to see Albury sending any of them back to the midday show any time soon.

“There’s some young guys there that make things really exciting for the future,” Albury co-coach Chris Hyde said after Saturday’s win.

“Joel is one of our unsung heroes, he gets arguably the opposition’s best player every week.

“There were even more guys at reserve level today, too, like Andy Dennis, Ben Vile, Hayden Dalitz, who are right on the edge and give us plenty of upside.

“The list goes on.

“We’re very comfortable with where our juniors are at.”

Hyde said there was no better blueprint for those young players to follow than Daly, who has developed from a fringe player to one of Albury’s three captains.

“When I first arrived at the club five years ago, Luke might not have been captain material and played most of the year in the reserves,” Hyde said.

“But’s he matured ten-fold and it’s a credit to him and he’s one of our important players.”

The Tigers were at their clinical best on Saturday, bursting out of the blocks in trademark fashion and had little trouble holding sway from there.

The class, poise and experience of Dean Polo, Charles Gaylard, Daniel Maher and Hyde complemented the young stars perfectly.

“We really set ourselves, as a group, after the week off,” Hyde said.

“We were really happy with the start. I thought Matty Fowler really set the scene, from an individual point of view, and the rest of the guys followed.”

And the Hoppers simply didn’t cope with it.

“That’s an understatement,” North Albury coach Jason Akermanis, a late inclusion, said.

“The amount of easy goals and ridiculous free kicks were staggering.

“We gave them probably 15 goals just through our stupidity.

“Our execution was beyond belief.

“I have no idea why this is the case but I’m going to solve it.”

North Albury continually gifted the Tigers goals through turnovers, with poor disposal in the corridor costing them dearly.

“We probably played on two or three times a quarter when our whole game plan was based on playing on,” Akermanis said.

“Whether they’re not listening, or not trusting what we’re putting in place, I don’t know.

“But I’ll find out.

“That’s not something we want to serve up again.”