Written off as wooden spooners, the Hoppers snapped a 21-match losing streak with a 10.5 (65) to 5.12 (42) win over a gutted Wodonga Raiders on Saturday.

The visitors had lost their first four matches by an average margin of 124 points.

"It's a credit to the boys, over the last month we came up against some pretty good sides, the boys have always showed effort and they really earnt that win," proud coach Luke Norman said.

"I've heard it's been over 1000 days since the last win, they've been belted and belted last year, it's really emotional for our supporters, sponsors, just to get that win, it's just fantastic."

Both the second-year coach and captain George Godde spoke honestly about a raw midweek meeting.

"I just wanted the players to have some input into this week in how they wanted to play and how they go about it," Norman revealed.

"They saw this as an opportunity, we had a couple of opportunities over the past two years and haven't gone about it the right way, they wanted to play a certain way and they did."

Both teams went into the round five clash winless and the Hoppers knew they had to strike in the hottest competition in years.

"It was a very open discussion, but it was mostly about Raiders and what we wanted to bring," Godde offered.

"It was very truthful and honest for everyone in the room and it has been like a weight off the back, everyone was on the same page.

N OTHER NEWS:

"One thing brought up was we don't talk about winning a game, we talk about what we want to do, the result will look after itself."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: