O and M's top five looks settled after only two full rounds

After much hype and hope of seven teams battling for finals, winless starts to contenders Wodonga Raiders and Yarrawonga have derailed their season.

Of course after just three weekends of play, all teams are still mathematically capable of playing finals. Realistically, it's over.

And while that's naturally disappointing, the class of the likely top five and Wodonga's upset win over Yarrawonga on Saturday has guaranteed interest remains at a high level.

Premiership fancies Wangaratta blasted popular top three pick Myrtleford by 66 points on Saturday night, but the attitude of injured Saints' co-coach Jake Sharp resembled Yarrawonga's bullish attitude a decade ago when Albury was dominating.

While some clubs bemoaned the Tigers' class, the Pigeons were the one club to welcome the challenge.

Now, Wangaratta hasn't won the flag since 2017, so the Pies aren't in Albury's league when it comes to winning grand finals, but some will fear the size of their win.

But Sharp's not one. In fact, his eyes light up at the challenge.

"It's a great learning curve mate, if you sit here sad and sorry for yourself, you're going to get nowhere, the reality is we learnt a lot about our game and where we've got to get better, by no means are we throwing the baby out with the bath water," he said defiantly.

Sharp only has to look to last season after the Saints were belted by Albury (77 points) and Lavington (61) in successive games in 2019. They stunned everyone to make the preliminary final.

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It must be said other likely finalists Albury, Wangaratta Rovers and Lavington have enough top players and, more importantly, that similar desire to challenge the high-flying Pies, who've averaged 81-point wins.

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