BFNL 2023: Sebastopol reveals star ruck in dazzling debut | Round 1 review

Wearing number 99, Arnold Kirby turned heads as he took to the centre circle for the opening bounce, going head-to-head with the Cobras ruck Luke Goetz.

The towering ruck wasted no time in making his presence felt, providing a tall option all across the ground and a powerful first quarter fend-off on Ashton Craig.

FOOTY WRAP: Melton, Sebastopol show no signs of slowing down

Sebastopol co-coach Michael Columbro said the former Woorinen ruck was an "exciting" signing.

"Arnold was fantastic, he fitted in really well with our group," Columbro said.

"He competed really hard in the ruck all day and gave us plenty of service on the ground in wet conditions."

Kirby had 23 disposals and 20 hit-outs in the Burra's 121-point thumping over Bacchus Marsh.

The full-time margin could have easily been more, with the Burra kicking 24 behinds along with their 19 majors.

Sebastopol erupted in the second term with 16 scoring shots to two as a nine-point quarter time margin suddenly became a 58-point half time advantage.

Columbro struggled to single out a star player from Saturday, an ode to Sebastopol's well-balanced attack.

"Everyone played their role and did what they needed to do across the board," Columbro said.

"We were able to execute a little bit better going forward, we had a little bit more method inside 50."

Adam Forbes kicked a game-high three goals, while Sebastopol enjoyed six multiple goalkickers.

New Bacchus Marsh coach Jason Williams said it was a "really disappointing" performance but still found some positives despite the result.

"In the first quarter and then in patches throughout the game we were able to compete at a level that was good enough, but it is hard to replace the depth we lost over the off-season," Williams said.

"We highlighted some key match-ups ahead of the contest and we felt like we won those match-ups, it is just if you shut down three players Sebastopol is good enough to have another six pop up and play well.

"Josh Onderwater who played on James Keeble was really impressive in his first game for us."

Jack Darling (concussion) and Dom Miesen (thumb) will miss the Cobras' round two clash with Darley, while a fully-fit Sebastopol has the bye.

Sebastopol 1.5 9.13 16.19 19.24 (138)

Bacchus Marsh 0.2 1.3 1.4 2.5 (17)

GOALS - Sebastopol: A.Forbes 3, H.Papst 2, D.Widgery 2, L.Stow 2, L.Latch 2, J.Keeble 2, J.Hill 1, T.Lockyer 1, L.Cassidy 1, T.Hutt 1, C.Dummett 1, D.Robertson 1; Bacchus Marsh: J.Dellar 1, L.Goetz 1

BEST - Sebastopol: Lachlan Cassidy, Chase Dummett, Jed Hill, Bailey Medwell, Tony Lockyer; Bacchus Marsh: J.Onderwater, J.Owen, L.Goetz, T.Shea, E.Ogden, J.McCreery

Sunbury recovered from a 20-point half-time deficit to storm home against North Ballarat and record a character-defining 11-point victory.

The Lions, who were inaccurate in front of goal throughout the first half, booted eight second-half goals to North Ballarat's three, with the Roosters held goalless in a dominant third term.

That third quarter saw Sunbury pile on 32 points to just three behinds and head into the final term with a nine-point advantage en route to an impressive win to start the season.

Sunbury coach Travis Hodgson said that after losing so many close matches last season it was "pleasing" to see his side fight back and hold on.

"It was really good to win the first close one we were in this season, we weren't able to do that last year," Hodgson said.

"We're better for the experience from last year, we've got a pretty strong list at the moment, we only had three players missing from yesterday."

Sunbury star Jake Sutton was out due to VFL duties at Essendon, while the club waits on the return of Jack Hannett and James Cree.

"We thought we played reasonably well up to half time, we didn't change too much because a lot of the stats were to our advantage," Hodgson said.

"In an even game against quality opposition, to be able to kick five unanswered goals is not easy to do."

Former Essendon defender Cody Brand returned to Sunbury over the off-season and provided a tall target up forward for the Lions, while it was captain Tyson Lever who booted the match-winning goal for the Lions.

Hodgson said Josh Guthrie and Mitch Lewis, who are back at the club full-time this season, "made a huge difference" on Saturday.

"They (Guthrie and Lewis) were probably our best two players, they were super for us," Hodgson said.

"We wouldn't have won without them on Saturday."

Mid-forward Corey Mobilio landed awkwardly on his knee in the round one clash and sat out the final 15 minutes of the contest.

Hodgson was not too worried and said he thought Mobilio would be okay for round two.

North Ballarat coach Brendan McCartney said Sunbury was more efficient later in the game.

"They (Sunbury) handled the last 10 minutes a bit better than us," McCartney said.

"We gave ourselves a chance, they were very good in the third quarter but we had some opportunities we should have taken and didn't."

The Roosters revealed star recruit Stewart Crameri on Saturday, with the former AFL player kicking a goal and offering plenty across the ground.

"We had him (Crameri) around the middle, we had him forward and even popped him in defence a little," McCartney said.

"He is happy to play wherever we need him and that is a credit to the type of person he is."

The Roosters will look to bounce back against Redan in round two, while Sunbury hosts reigning premiers Melton.

Sunbury 1.4 2.6 7.8 10.15 (75)

North Ballarat 2.2 6.2 6.5 9.10 (64)

GOALS - Sunbury: L.Brennan 2, H.Minton-Connell 2, C.Brand 1, C.Mobilio 1, B.Caldone 1, T.Werner 1, R.Miller 1, T.Lever 1; North Ballarat: J.Quick 2, I.Lovison 1, J.Chatfield 1, S.Crameri 1

BEST - Sunbury: J.Guthrie, M.Lewis, T.Lever, H.Power, J.Egan, T.Werner; North Ballarat: H.Loader, J.Quick, S.Crameri, B.Leonard, N.Troon, C.Jenkins

Darley proved too classy in treacherous conditions at Alfredton, breaking away late from a valiant Ballarat outfit to claim a 40-point win to kickstart its campaign on Saturday.

A well-balanced Devils attack, which lost Nick Rodda over the off-season, looked even more threatening with eight individual goalkickers able to break the game open.

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Darley head coach Dan Jordan said the Devils opted for a smaller forward line given the wet conditions.

"We had a really good spread of goal kickers ... that is the sort of spread that we need to cover that load (of Rodda).

"If we can get that consistently and share it around a bit more it makes us a harder team to defend as opposed to shutting down one person.

"I'm hoping that, with that flexibility, one week someone might pop up and the next week it'll be someone else."

Shane Page earned the praise of the Devils coach and best-on-ground honours following a strong performance on the wing.

Jordan noted that he felt his side adapted faster than Ballarat to the wet conditions at Alfredton.

"I thought Ballarat tried to continue to play the same style of footy all four quarters," Jordan said.

"We had a real focus on it at half time and I thought the boys executed the plan really well.

"Gradually they wore the game down and started to see some reward for their effort in the last quarter."

Ballarat coach Chris Maple shared the same opinion.

"Particularly in the last quarter we probably tried to play drier weather style of game that didn't suit the conditions," Maple said.

"It certainly wasn't instructed that way but we're a young team and we'll learn."

The game was still up for the taking at three-quarter time, with Maple's Swans going all-out to try and erase the 14-point deficit at the final break.

"We were still in the game at three-quarter time and we decided to roll the dice and try to win it," Maple said.

"You can go down with an honourable loss and keep playing the same way or you can try and play a style that could win the game.

"It doesn't matter if it is a 40-point loss or six-point loss, you still lose."

The Swans were one down on the bench after Jake Drever suffered a shoulder injury early in the contest.

Maple said the club will have to wait for scans to see where he was at ahead of the Lakers in round two.

Darley 1.0 4.7 6.7 10.11 (71)

Ballarat 1.4 2.7 3.11 3.13 (31)

GOALS: Darley: D.Bishop 2, B.Bewley 2, M.Denham 1, M.Ward 1, D.Matricardi 1, A.Azzopardi 1, T.Van Leth 1, R.Matricardi 1; Ballarat: A.Hooper 1, T.Mooney 1, L.Gray 1

BEST: Darley: S.Page, D.Bishop, J.Ancrum, B.Young, B.Bewley, A.Tanner; Ballarat: W.Liston, W.Squires, K.Mellington, T.Mooney, P.Simpson, M.Powling

Reigning premiers Melton picked up right where it left off with a dominant display against cross-town rivals Melton South.

The Bloods wasted no time in showing what they are capable of this season with an incredible 55-0 opening quarter burst.

The Panthers kicked their first goal in the opening minute of the second term through John Armstrong, but Melton continued its dominance for the rest of the contest, running away with a thumping 161-point victory.

The goals came from everywhere for the Bloods, with Ryan Carter kicking a game-high six goals.

Melton boasted a whopping 11 individual goalkickers in the stunning season-opener.

Melton 8.7 11.7 22.17 27.22 (184)

Melton South 0.0 2.5 3.5 3.5 (23)

GOALS - Melton: R.Carter 6, B.Sullivan 4, L.Carter 3, H.Hanley 2, R.Davis 2, L.Watkins 2, B.Kight 2, J.Kight 2, A.Monitto 1, L.Walker 1, J.Walker 1; Melton South: T.Hallett-Tauli'i 1, J.Kovarik 1 T.Rogers 1

BEST - Melton: Lachlan Walker, Lachlan Watkins, Liam Carter, Johnathan O'Brien, Jack Walker, Jordan Kight; Melton South: Cody Chapman, Phillip Hoyland, Jarrod Bibby, Rhys Lee