Delighted North Albury coach Tim Broomhead says there's no reason why the club can't snap a nine-year finals drought after posting one of the biggest upsets in recent years against Wangaratta on Saturday.
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The Pies were coming off a shock loss to Wangaratta Rovers and many felt the star-studded line-up would take it out on the Hoppers, but the underdogs produced their best performance since 2015 in claiming a spectacular 11.8 (74) to 9.10 (64) win.
"Who knows? If you win a game like that, you definitely can." Broomhead replied when asked if the club can play finals.
"We want to get as good as we can and beating a team like that that will definitely be in the top five, it will go a long way to us doing that."
North's 2-0 start is showing early signs of replicating Wodonga's stunning surge last year.
The Bulldogs hadn't played finals in 14 years, but five successive wins to start the season effectively ended the hoodoo.
North will be expected to dispose of Corowa-Rutherglen, which is returning to the competition after a year out due to a player shortage, in round three and will also start favourites against Wodonga Raiders the following week.
The Hoppers' win was based on frenetic pressure.
"We knew we had to have that desperate mindset, we had to pressure everything, chasing, smothering, all those little things," Broomhead offered.
"We wanted to take time away from them, we noticed Rovers in that last quarter did that really well and forced them (Wangaratta) to blaze away."
Former Farrer League forward Nathan Dennis was best on ground with five goals.
"Jack Penny was unreal, he plays in the guts and forward, while 'Weido' (Jackson Weidemann) was unbelievable, coming back (from a long-term hip injury), he was down back and he was on," captain George Godde revealed.
Godde himself, Julian Hayes and Sam Azzi were also terrific.
For the second successive week, ultra consistent defender Michael Bordignon was the visitors' best.
The Pies' start is one of the early talking points after playing in last year's preliminary final and signing a host of stars, including ex-AFL player Pat Naish.
Wangaratta now hosts a resurgent Wodonga under lights.
