HOW QUICKLY the tide of play turned at Eureka Stadium – North Ballarat built a 46-point lead then lost by almost six goals.
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The Victorian Football League season opener on Saturday has given North Ballarat and fellow North Melbourne affiliate Werribee plenty to finetune.
In a power start, the Selkirk Roosters slammed on six unanswered goals to a goal-less Tigers in the first quarter and booted another major to open the second.
Play steadied in an even second term but the Tigers belted out 11 goals to two in the third to set up their 20.15 (135) to 14.15 (100) victory.
North Ballarat coach Gerard FitzGerald said there would be no changes to routine in the Roosters’ camp.
Coaches and players would learn through a breakdown of play and move on preparing for round two.
“Initial analysis is more about what was really good about our first half because we played a terrific level of footy,” FitzGerald said. “Then we’ll do a really thorough analysis of what happened in the third quarter and the reasons we weren’t able to get back in the game and prepare to rebound next week.”
Post-match analysis was made tough yesterday due to limited access to match statistics and game vision.
FitzGerald said a lot would rely on gut-feeling from the coaches and players in the week’s collective and individual reviews.
The Roosters looked a slick unit all over the field in the opening term with sharp drive up forward making light of the Tigers’ defence.
Billy Driscoll booted two goals in a multi-pronged forward line for the first quarter.
Young ruck Ben Mabon, in his VFL senior debut, was dominating in an athletic performance at the hit-outs and the midfield was strong.
The Tigers kicked their first goal, via Cam Pedersen, six minutes into the second quarter but the Roosters still held a strong grip on the match with a 37-point lead at half-time.
Robbie Castello stamped the Tigers intentions to claw back, and fast, with a goal inside 25 seconds of the third quarter. The Roosters fumbled chances in front of goals early and it hurt. Bad.
The Tigers pounced and booted eight unanswered goals to snatch the lead and hold a narrow buffer before the Roosters could convert a major.
A Tigers goal after the siren added an extra dig and FitzGerald called for more aggression at the final change of ends.
The Roosters were now beaten all over the ground with the Tigers’ North Melbourne-listed players leading the charge.
Roosters’ forward Paul McMahon continued to work hard in his return to VFL and finished well, despite being drawn into the midfield.
FitzGerald said the Tigers had simply made more of their chances – the Roosters kicked 6.8 in their first quarter blitz, the Tigers kicked 11.2 in their third quarter rampage.
