THE worst of conditions produced the best result for the Murray Bushrangers who downed the NSW/ACT Rams 9.7 (61) to 4.6 (30) at Albury Sportsground yesterday.
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Playing in solid rain throughout, the result launched them from seventh to third in the TAC Cup rankings.
“That’s very pleasing, but that also tells you that the league is very tight,” Bushies coach Darren Ogier said.
“And that means you have to keep continually getting the points on the board to hold your ground.
“But today was a very good effort in very trying conditions, it was fairly solid rain all day but the ground was immaculate.”
Ogier said that the Bushrangers’ pressure across the ground was the key difference between the two side — that and a good goal ratio in wet conditions.
“We made the most of our opportunities at important points in the game,” Ogier said.
“And we certainly scored a lot heavier with our inside-50s.
“To only allow them to kick four goals was very pleasing, and to kick like that on a day like this was a pretty good effort.”
The 199-centimetre Josh Schache booted three important goals for the Bushies.
“They really struggled to match up on Josh,” Ogier said.
“He’s tall and very mobile and a good mark so he was very dangerous up forward, as was Trent McMullan from Wodonga Bulldogs.”
Small forward Luke Smith also kicked two goals, while Albury’s Nick Coughlan put in a strong performance in the back half.
“It’s really pleasing to see him string a couple of games together,” Ogier said.
“As a team we’re certainly continuing to improve, finding out how to play alongside each other as a group even though that group keeps changing.”
