Riley Mason booted six goals in another big for Seymour at the weekend. Photos: Wayne Herring.
Seymour continue to hum along in the Goulburn Valley League senior football competition, recording yet another big win at the weekend at the expense of Tatura.
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With a big crowd assembled at Kings Park to celebrate Sarah’s Day, the annual Breast Cancer Network Australia fundraiser in honour of long-time Seymour supporter and contributor Sarah Locke, the Lions put the Bulldogs to the sword, completing a 24.14 (158) to 4.2 (26) rout to move to 4-1 for the season.
Putting the foot down from the opening bounce, the Lions kept the visitors goalless in the opening term while piling on five majors of their own, and continued on with it from there, steadily extending the margin throughout the contest for an eventual 132-point victory, much to the delight of co-coach Ben Davey.
“(The vibe) is very positive, the boys are heading in the right direction,” he said.
“It’s a long season, if you want to play on a grand final day, it's 25 weeks long, we're only five weeks in, so it's a long grind.
“It's all about getting the wins along the way, but improving your game each week as well, so that you're playing your best footy at the back end of the season, which is our plan, hopefully.
“(Saturday’s contest) was all about getting four quarters together, not having a lapse, and trying to start really well, because we have had slow starts.
“It was a pretty even contribution across the board from all players over four quarters, which was really pleasing.”
Labelling the win over Mansfield in round three, a week on from a 40-point drubbing against Shepparton, as a “turning point”, Davey has led the Lions to three wins on the trot, the two most recent by 49 and 132 points respectively, to announce themselves as a real threat this season.
The stars have been firing all across the park, and it was no different at the weekend, with the usual suspects doing their reputations no harm.
Sam Thomson hangs on for a screamer.
Riley Mason was up to his usual tricks in the forward line, booting six majors to take his season tally to 24, while co-coach Jack Murphy ran riot, slotting five goals himself from the midfield in a best-on-ground display.
Huw Jones continued his stellar start to the season a long lay-off due to injury, with the vice-captain named in the best once again, while fellow vice-captain Nathan Beattie (one goal) and Ben Cooney were also influential.
Recruit Jaron Murphy (three goals) was impressive again in his fifth outing for the Lions too, having now booted multiple majors and appeared in the best in all bar one game this season.
“He’s been a great addition to our group, and he’s been someone we've been trying to get for a few years,” Davey said of the off-season signing.
“So, him and Xavier (Dimasi) came together, and their connection is they grew up playing junior footy with Jack Murphy, those three played all through juniors together...
“Then Jaron and Xavier played at Whittlesea together for about five to six years, and now they're all back together at Seymour, which is really, really good.
“It’s been in the works for a little bit, and Jaron’s a really talented runner, a beautiful mover on the wing and hardly ever comes off the ground, he’s super fit. He's about 6’2, 6’3, and he's just a very smart player.
“You can see he's kicking goals every week, but he also works very hard in defence as well, he’s been a super valuable addition.”
Lewis Lubeck looks down field.
The comprehensive win has the Lions sitting pretty in third spot on the ladder and building nicely into the season, with Davey not shrinking from what he expects his group can achieve.
“We’re not shying away from the fact that anything less than finals is a failure for us,” he said.
“Our heads are firmly set on where we need to be at the end of the season, and once you get into finals, I’ve said this to you before, once you get in there, it's a whole new season.
“There's six spots, but once you're in there, anyone can win basically, because it comes down to who's got the healthiest list, who's got the best talent and who's got the most drive.
“So we definitely know we've got plenty of talent, we’ve got plenty of drive, and the healthy list, we still haven't got that, but we'll get there.”
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