Bracing themselves for the best of Moyhu — who had just gone down to their second heaviest loss in their club’s history to Glenrowan — Bright looked in control come half time.

The fast young outfit had run out to a handy eight-goal buffer before the Hoppers closed ranks and chipped away at the lead.

But in the end, Bright won 11.8 (74) to 9.15 (69).

“It can be frustrating when you see how good we can be and then that’s turned on its head and you see how bad we can be,” Ben Jones said.

Bright’s first-year co-coach alongside Regan Alexander is learning the hard way the pressures of leading a footy side.

“I think I got a few grey hairs in the last 10 minutes,” Jones said.

“But that’s just the challenge and we have to teach them now how to (play well) for more than a quarter.

“We’ve got a young list, there’s only three or four of us of a decent age and there are a lot of 20 and 21-year-olds in the side.

“We’ve got a talented list but they’re young and they’ve got a lot to learn.”

The opportunity to play sides like Moyhu will only put the Mountain Men in good stead.

“They’re an experienced side and they plugged away and came back at us,” Jones said.

“I think one of the lessons we learnt as coaches was how to try to stop that flow — kept chipping away and we didn’t deal with it as well as we could have.

“Moyhu have been doing it for years and I wouldn’t expect less of a side like that.

“But I think we panicked a bit as it got closer and closer.”

Fortunately for Bright the worst was over and the best yet to come.

Cade Nightingale had the final say, running on to a loose ball and slotting the winning goal. 

At Greta, former Hawthorn premiership player Campbell Brown kicked 10 goals in Greta’s big win against King Valley.

Brown, who had a hand in several other majors, played deep in attack and received support from fellow key forward Scott Glover.