WODONGA Raiders coach Daryn Cresswell believes his players will gain enormous self-belief from their gritty 10-point loss to reigning premier Albury at Birallee Park on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With the exception of a 15-minute patch in the third quarter, the new-look Raiders went toe to toe with the league heavyweight and weren’t far off delivering a knockout blow.
It was only the experience of Tiger defenders Luke Packer and Michael Thompson and the poise of star on-baller Dean Polo in a fiery final quarter that allowed Albury to clinch its fifth straight win.
“It could have gone pear-shaped at three-quarter-time but I asked the boys for a special effort and was really proud of the way they responded,” Cresswell said.
“They showed a lot of character.
“Coming from where we have been, we could easily have lost by 10 goals.
“I think the boys are learning all the time and they should have gained a lot of confidence from the game.”
Cresswell dismissed speculation star forward Ross Tungatalum had walked out on the club, saying he would be back from the Northern Territory after the inter-league bye.
Despite co-coach Chris Hyde and full-back Jay Koehler withdrawing from the selected team, Albury started strongly with goals to Aisake o’hAilpin and Luke Daly before the Raiders dug in for the fight.
The Raiders led by a point at half-time on the back of strong effort from Todd Grayson, Ben Murphy, Ethan Boxall, Hayden Heta and Stuart Williams and an upset looked on the cards.
Grayson oozed class running off half-back, Murphy held his own against Joel Mackie in the midfield and Boxall bobbed up with three classy majors in a low-scoring match.
But Albury again had the answers with four successive goals in the third term to Bryce Carroll, Mackie, Ryan Hon and Justin Carey, opening a 23-point lead and that proved to be the difference between them.
Raider Jake Goldsmith had his chances to bridge the gap but finished with 1.5, including a poster in the final term.
Co-coach Daniel Maher said the Tigers were relieved to take the points.
“I guess the pleasing thing for us is that we didn’t play really well for a long period of the match but still found a way to win,” Maher said.
“To the Raiders’ credit, they hung in there and kept the pressure right on us.
“We have a lot of areas in which we need to improve.”
Maher said he was confident Hyde and Koehler would return from hamstring injuries against Wodonga at John Flower Oval this weekend.
