The Murray Bushrangers were made to “look very ordinary” by Dandenong in a 31-point loss on Saturday.
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While the conditions were never going to favour in-form forward Josh Schache, Stingray Jacob Weitering took the points in the duel between the two potential No. 1 draft picks.
But Schache wasn’t alone in being beaten by his opponent.
“The opposition were fantastic from the outset, and our pressure was very poor,” coach Darren Ogier said.
“We were just not good enough when we didn’t have the ball.
“They set up really well, we didn’t make them accountable and it cost us.”
On a disappointing day for the Bushrangers, Ogier could at least salvage something from the performance of his bottom-age contingent.
With a full list available for selection following the conclusion of various national and state carnivals, it was Albury’s Lachlan Tiziani who stood up to be the Bushrangers’ best, while Wodonga’s Isaac Wallace also came in for some praise from the coach.
“Lachlan had a really bad game in this fixture last year and was really excited to make amends for that,” Ogier said.
“We had to move him into the backline in the first half to try and stop a couple of their more dangerous players, which he did, before he was able to come back onto the wing and give us plenty of drive.
“He’s been able to take his game to another level in recent weeks, having him back from the Rams is a blessing because we can see the good work he’s been doing.
“All of our bottom age players were excellent.
“Ït was unfortunate some missed out after performing really well with some of the other players away, but the players who held their spot like Isaac Wallace showed some real ability and hunger.”
The Bushrangers will have a week off to reflect on the loss before hosting Gippsland at Wangaratta.
