To the surprise of many, Chiltern’s first win of the season came against last year’s grand finalists Mitta United on the weekend.
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However, internally, Swans coach Brent Newton’s side has been slowing building its way up and was confident of a good result.
Off-season recruit Nathan Hooper was deadly in front of goal with 11 majors in his first game for the club, after signing just weeks before round one.
The victory has boosted the belief of the group ahead of what will be another huge test away to Rutherglen on Saturday.
“Rutherglen are tracking along nicely, it’s going to be a great game and we’ll see where we’re at,” Newton said.
“The blokes should be confident and should know by now of the sort of footy we can play.
“We just need back each other and our own abilities.”
Newton said it was a well-rounded performance against Mitta and is something he hopes to see again this weekend.
“We had a pretty strong emphasis on getting those 21 contributors, everyone played their role, we stuck to our structure and we rotated quite heavily so everyone stayed fresh,” he said.
“Having Hooper down there as a key target allowed him to score off everyone’s hard work.
“He was quite damaging and kicked quite straight as well, which was good to see and he got through well.
“To their credit, Mitta didn’t fall away, so it was a good test for our guys to mentally stay in the game.”
Newton admitted the new-look side was always going to take a bit more time to gel.
“It’s going to take a few more weeks for blokes to settle and get to know how each other plays,” he said.
“So far everyone’s putting in and are on the same page as each other.
“It’s going to be a step by step process each week to continually build on the previous week.”
Newton added that keeping up the belief of the group will be his biggest focus as coach.
“I keep telling them if they keep putting the work in, the results will come,” he said.
“When you’re putting that hard work in, you also get a bit of luck come your way, which is an added bonus.”
In other games around the league, Barnawartha hosts an in-form Wahgunyah who have started the season with three 100-plus victories.
Beechworth will look to bounce back from last weekend’s loss to Yackandandah with the four points against Dederang-Mount Beauty.
Last year’s grand finalists Mitta United are in desperate need for their first win, but won’t have an easy task against Kiewa-Sandy Creek at Eskdale.
Yackandandah is expected to continue its perfect start to the season with a victory against Wodonga Saints.
Meanwhile, Tallangatta will hope to push reigning premiers Thurgoona after claiming its first win of the year against Wodonga Saints.
OAKFM will broadcast the Rutherglen and Chiltern clash from 1pm on Saturday.