It took the Hoppers until midway through the second quarter to put their first major on the board, but by then it was already too late as the home side cruised to a 15.13 (103) to 3.6 (24) win.

Young guns Ethan Boxall (four goals) and Connor Newnham (three) were a constant threat for the Raiders.

Daryn Cresswell's side was far too good at ground level for the Hoppers, whose backline was constantly under siege.

Cresswell said the return of some key personnel had enabled the Raiders to enact a forward press over the last few rounds.

“Our press has really come along, we only really brought it in two or three weeks ago,” he said.

“We couldn't use it earlier in the year because we lacked the personnel to make it work.

“But having the likes of Dean Heta and Jydon Neagle back in the team really helps.

“I'm a great believer in defence bleeding into offence.”

The Raiders now sit fourth on the ladder with five wins and four losses, a game and percentage behind Yarrawonga and Lavington in second and third place respectively.

After their disastrous start to the season, which saw Todd Grayson leave and the club lose their opening three matches, Cresswell said the Raiders were back in the mix.

“At the start of the season I thought we were a top three side,” he said.

“Losing our best player under those circumstances hurt the group, we were missing a fair bit of experience.

“But we started in a positive way.

“It was always going to be a slow process to get back to where we wanted to be, it wasn't going to happen over the course of one or two weekends.

“We've slowly been building to our best footy, the results of that showed today.

“We were at 5-4 this time last year, that's where we set ourselves to be at round nine after losing the first three this year.

“Now we're in a really good position with Todd Bryant and Ross Tungatalum to come back.”

Connor Newnham played his best game for the year after starting the season in the reserves and Jydon Neagle was awarded best on ground, but Cresswell was quick to pay tribute to midfielders Tyler Cornish and Brad St John. 

“No-one really mentions Tyler Cornish,” he said.

“He'd probably be leading our best and fairest at the moment with Brad St John.

“They're our leaders inside and outside, they probably don't get the credit they deserve.

“They've become really pivotal players for us.”