MURRAY Magpies lived up to the pre-season hype of being one of the Hume league’s big improvers with a dominant 35-point victory over Rand-Walbundrie at Rand on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The perennial battler has only played finals once since crossing from the Coreen league in 2007.
But the arrival of Corey Lambert as coach last year has sparked a major turnaround in the Magpies’ fortunes.
Lambert took the Magpies from the wooden spoon to ninth in his first season at the helm.
And after the arrival of Josh Maher, Alex Freeman, Danyl Woods and Shannon Gilson over the summer, the Magpies were once again expected to improve and are widely being touted as finals contenders.
Check in to FOOTY HQ for a full wrap of Aussie Rules news across the Riverina and North East.
Lambert said victory against last season’s grand finalist’s was a promising start to the season.
“The boys were fantastic on Saturday,” Lambert said.
“It was a consistent effort over four quarters.
“Last year we would drop off in patches of a game but some of the signs were there that we were capable of being a good side.
“But on Saturday it was a solid performance right throughout and we were really disciplined in regards to the game plan.
“I suppose the most pleasing thing from a coaching point of view is the players are really taking ownership of what we are trying to achieve instead of relying on me or others to do it for them.”
Corryong recruit Shannon Gilson was the Magpies’ best after shelving retirement plans and signing with the club last week.
Despite a limited pre-season, Gilson won a swag of possessions in the midfield and constantly pumped the ball inside 50 to tall marking targets Jesse Johnston and Ash Murray.
Johnston booted six goals and Murray could have done likewise, finishing with 1.6 after spraying several set shots.
The Magpies may have also unearthed a couple of hidden gems in Lachie Kaye and Dylan Hartin, who showed plenty of promising signs after coming through the junior ranks.
The Magpies face another stern test of their finals credentials on Saturday when they travel to Coreen to take on CDHBU without Lambert.
Lambert is set to miss his first match in 14 years of coaching with work commitments overseas.
Brock-Burrum scored a convincing 39-point win over Osborne at Burrumbuttock.
Adding further merit to the Saints’ victory, reigning Azzi medallist Nico Sedgwick and premiership defender Josh McCudden played reserves after a limited pre-season.
CDHBU enjoyed a 53-point win over Walla at Coreen.
