Myrtleford's Dawson Simpson reveals emotional toll for mentor Jake Sharp

Simpson informed the players at training after his fellow co-coach received the bad news from his surgeon.

"It was heartbreaking really," he admitted.

"It was an extremely upset group of players, but they were very supportive, Jake's good mates with everyone, as well as their coach.

"This will be his third reco and second on his right knee."

The 26-year-old is one of the league's most popular players, an outstanding performer in his own right, but an even better person.

Sharp was forced off in the second quarter against Albury on June 12, but initially didn't think it was serious.

Apart from the injury to the anterior cruciate ligament, there's no other structural damage.

Meanwhile, Myrtleford is away to a desperate Lavington on Saturday.

"We don't think we've played anywhere near our ability yet, our best footy is certainly ahead of us," Simpson offered.

Myrtleford was severely affected by the ban on Melbourne players after the COVID resumption and there's no doubt the league has failed to reach the heights before the break.

But with so much riding on the Lavington-Myrtleford clash, plus the much anticipated re-match between Wangaratta-Wangaratta Rovers on Sunday, it's hoped the spark will return.

And Sam Murray led the charge after a poor display against Albury.

"Much better, Sam is a really influential player off half-back, he did a little bit too much junk running last week, we spoke to him about that, going at the right times," coach Daryn Cresswell suggested.

Meanwhile, former Melbourne midfielder Matt Jones is as close to a mistake-free player as you will get in the league and is so composed with the ball.

"He's class, he backs out of traffic, runs to the right spots and you can tell he's played at the next level," Cresswell said.

Jones played 61 AFL games and is so composed.

"It's something I've tried to be part of my game, but it's not something I go into a game thinking about, it just happens I guess," he confirmed in his first game for seven weeks.

And North Albury's improving form is a major positive for the league.

After being beaten by a total of 1001 points over the first eight games, the Hoppers have fallen by 48 and 41 against Mytleford and Yarrawonga respectively.

"There's been an improvement in the last month at training and we've had the right attitude and mindset," backman Jackson Weidemann revealed.

"The effort has been there for three-quarters of those games, it's just been the second quarters that have let us down."

Weidemann has been the Hoppers' standout in a rebuilding year, but he's targeting areas to improve.

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"I'd like to take a few more contested marks and just improve my communication."

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