All eyes were on the Roosters playing group to see whether last week’s inexcusable display would be a once-off or a worrying trend and thankfully it proved the latter as it went down to last year’s grand finalists by 46 points.

The huge round one loss was the worst-case scenario for a club that endured a horrible off-season with uncertainty surrounding their off-field make-up and on-field future. But Saturday night’s display was heartening and showed the group was still capable of being competitive.

Coach Marc Greig was pleased with the side’s response and said the group’s attack on the ball and hunger for the contest was unrecognisable in comparison to last week.

“The most pleasing aspect was the way they put their head over the ball, they went in as hard as they can, they were very physical...all fair stuff, but just really hard,” Greig said.

“You can’t even compare it to the previous week, it was a new team.

“I was really pleased that they responded...the physicality of both on the ball and the man – it just keeps you in games.”

The first step for North Ballarat was to show competitiveness, and Saturday ticked that box. Greig said the next step was to build on that performance and not just be pleased with a gallant loss, but work towards a winning brand of football.

He said the team had set a new standard on effort and intensity, which must be upheld week in, week out.

“They’ve set themselves a pretty high standard in regards to competitiveness and effort. How sore they’re going to wake up tomorrow is how sore they’ve got to wake up every Sunday morning.

“We’re not pleased that we didn’t win, but the first three quarters were really good.”

Part of that improvement must stem from the technical aspects of their game. Turnovers and efficiency in front of goal.

The Roosters were wasteful early, kicking 2.5 in the first term, while it may not have cost them the game, the lack of scoreboard pressure did them no favours. While critical turnovers in the back half remains a key issue for North Ballarat.

“We had opportunities. We could’ve been two or three (goals) up at quarter-time. The next step now is to make the most of our opportunities early in a game, just to put a bit of scoreboard pressure on instead of us having to fight back all the time.

“With the younger group, the mindset is so important in the game...it was good, but it’d be a different mindset if we were two or three goals up.