THE Ballarat Swans have made it three-from-three to start the Ballarat Football Netball League season, but the real tests are set to come over the next two weeks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But right now, all the Swans can do is win against the opponent they are drawn, and after Thursday's 70-point smashing of Lake Wendouree, there's no reason to say they can't compete with the best teams in the competition over the coming fortnight.
It was all one-way traffic in Thursday's first, of what will be at least four, Anzac Day blockbusters against Lake Wendouree with the Swans running out huge winners 13.14 (92) to 2.10 (22).
It could have been much worse for Lake Wendouree with their only two goals of the match both coming in time-on in the last quarter.
That's not to say they didn't have a few chances, but overall it was all one-way traffic for the home side who basically did as they pleased.
Three wins to start the season is all you can do, but with Darley, followed by Melton, over the next two weeks, we'll get a great understanding of where the Swans sit in the pecking order of this year's competition.
"It's a big day for the footy club, a big day for Australian's in general and for the boys to come out and play the way they did, we're really happy for them," he said.
"A couple of big one ahead though against Darley and Melton, that will give us an indication of where we are at. It's the big test for us.
"We've got a few injuries which every club had at this time of the year, but we feel we've got the depth this year."
Maple said when the fixture came out it was clear that if the Swans were to be a threat, they needed to be 3-0.
"You've got to just keep getting 'Ws', you'll take 3-0 and move on. But we know we can't get too excited. It's pleasing we've been able to play and beat those teams who were around us last year, now it's time to see how we go against those above us."
For Lake Wendouree it was a case of two steps forward with encouraging performances over the past couple of weeks, to one giant step back as the team was eclipsed all over the park.
"They are a good side, well drilled, we were good for 30 minutes but we paid the price," Lakers coach Rohan Brown said.,
"They kept cutting us off at half forward, we just couldn't get any momentum at all, very disappointing day for our club."
Brown said while there might be some who could point to a young side coming off a five-day break, he didn't want a bar of it, saying Ballarat was in the same situation.
"I'm kind of sick of saying we're a young side," he said. "At the end of the day, they were better than us in all facets of the game.
"I thought the Ballarat backline were terrific at reading the play. They were well set-up and played to their plan and we were comprehensively beaten against it today."
The Lakers find themselves at 0-3 after two encouraging, but ultimately performances that fell short in the first couple of rounds. It doesn't get any easier with North Ballarat coming up next weekend.
