The 19.9 (123) to 11.8 (74) victory not only virtually guarantees the Blues’ the minor premiership but also confirmed their raging flag favourite status.

The ladder leaders opened up a 34-point buffer at the first change while restricting the Demons to one point.

They were never seriously challenged apart for a brief period in the second-term as Mitch Pyne- appels dominated the stoppages and created plenty of opportunities for the Blues’ forwards.

Cudgewa coach Bill Deery labelled the dominant display as the Blues’ best but warned there was still 10 per cent improvement left in his charges.

“We went into the clash expecting to be under enormous pressure with Corryong spending the past couple of weeks plotting our downfall,” Deery said.

“So we thought they would come out all guns a blazing but it didn’t eventuate.

“I thought they made some mind-boggling decisions when they dropped Dan McInnes and Richard Spinks, which surprised me big time.

“Playing on a big ground in dry conditions a couple of extra talls would have been handy.”

Deery questioned whether the Demons’ lacked leadership under coach Andrew Reid.

“It’s a pity that former coach Evan Nicholas is not coaching this year with the same group as they have got,” Deery said.

“Just from some of the comments and feedback I got from the opposition, I reckon a lot of players would follow him more so, than that Andrew Reid.

“They seem to lack discipline and a few of their blokes got sent off in the third-quarter for back chatting the umpires.”

Reid preferred not to comment on those criticisms last night.

In other matches Bullioh scored a thumping 109-point win over Federal while Tumbarumba scored a hard-fought 14-point win over Border-Walwa.

It’s a pity that former coach Evan Nicholas is not coaching this year with the same group as they have got. Just from some of the comments and feedback I got from the opposition, I reckon a lot of players would follow him more so, than that Andrew Reid.

Bill Deery