Vice-captain Daniel Leggett was the first to go down, doing his ACL within the first five minutes of the season-opening loss to Melton.

Co-captain Brody Sullivan would follow minutes later after breaking his arm in a freak accident in the same game.

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Billy Sullivan, another Panthers' vice-captain, would join his teammates a couple rounds later; going down with an ACL injury during the 30-point win against Bacchus Marsh in round three.

Pritchard said the club was having to manage with players getting injured on a weekly basis.

"At our club we had one ACL in probably five or six years - now we've had two in three weeks," he told The Courier.

"It's not just soft tissue injuries, it all sorts of injuries.

"Obviously, the bodies are hardened and having that massive time off (has had an impact).

"Across the whole board, and other competitions, it's the same from what I can gather. People are copping injuries and it's just the nature of the beast in 2021."

The 23-point win against Sunbury at the weekend was the first time Melton South recorded back-to-back victories since round four, 2012.

Ex-VFL forward Dylan Conway led the charge with a five-goal haul, though fellow recruit Bradley Olsson was a notable omission for the game with a minor injury complaint.

With the bye this weekend, Pritchard expected the former VFL midfielder to return to the fold in round six.

"He hurt his groin the week before. We're pretty sure he'll be right for the Lake Wendouree game," he said.

"You know, it's just one goes down, the next soldier comes up.

"I've been really happy with the way the boys have done that this year. It's probably been the most pleasing aspect."

The Panthers have weathered the injury setbacks to record their best start to a season since 2013.

Pritchard said the group had been galvansied by recent performances.

"We make no secret of the fact its been a pretty tough and lean decade for Melton South," he said.

"It hasn't been easy and a lot of these boys have lived through that.

"We've really tried to make it a mantra and hopefully we can keep putting our best foot forward and going out every week with a competitive mindset knowing that we're in games up to our eyeball and if we do the right things we're going to win more games than not."

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