Greater Western Victoria Rebels were held at arms-length by Eastern Ranges on Saturday as a substandard performance saw it go down by 25 points, but never truly threaten.
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The Ranges won each of the first three quarters to open up a 38-point lead heading into the last. The Rebels won the final term, but it was an overall display that was not up to expectation, coach Gerard FitzGerald said.
“We were below our best,” he said.
From a numbers point of view, FitzGerald felt his side won enough of the ball, but two clear deficiencies in their execution let them down.
Efficiency going forward was not where it would have liked while when a turnover occurred the Ranges were allowed too move the ball with far too much ease, recording nearly 20 marks inside 50 – a reflection of the poor defence upon turnover.
“I thought we won a reasonable amount of the ball, but we weren’t able to use it well enough and when we gave the ball back to the opposition we weren’t able to defend well enough.
“I thought we gave ourselves a chance at times, but we weren’t able to maintain possession for long enough periods.”
We weren’t able to use it well enough and when we gave the ball back to the opposition we weren’t able to defend well enough.
- Coach Gerard FitzGerald
Consistency throughout matches is something FitzGerald feels the group is still striving to find.
Last week and Saturday offered a lesson to the group that if you drop-off in intensity for even a quarter or two, that it will be enough to have the result taken away from you.
“Our last quarter was indicative of a level I think we can play at, we’re still working through this issue.
“We had some really good quarters against Northern Knights (last week) and did well to draw the game...we were outplayed for extensive periods of the game yesterday, so it’s a bit of a reminder for my blokes that we’ve got to play at, or near, our best for longer periods.”
When the two sides met earlier in the season, it was the Rebels that came away with a comfortable victory – winning by 53 points.
FitzGerald said the Ranges defended much better this time around and took advantage of the Rebels lack of tall timber, forcing them long down the line and denying their smalls room to move.
“Their defensive game was much better yesterday than earlier in the year when we played them.
“We lack height, so if we’re forced down the line we’re in strife. We model our game on being able to run, spread and use the space. Yesterday we didn’t effectively link up well, but the defensive pressure of the opposition was a factor in that.”