POINT Cook got an early first-hand insight into why a rebuilt South Mornington Tigers received rave reviews ahead of Saturday’s Victorian Amateur Football Association division 4 season opener.
The Bulldogs took it up to their fancied visitors for a bit over a quarter before being blown away in devastating fashion by 90 points in front of their home fans at the Point Cook Oval.
Bulldogs coach Daniel Fraser heard the talk around the traps about the Tigers and needed just 120 minutes to confirm in his mind they will be one of the sides to beat in 2012.
“I’d suggest they would be a top-two team from what I saw on Saturday,” he said.
“They’re one of the better teams I’ve seen in our three years in the comp.
“They were very well drilled, they’ve got a lot of big units, a lot of six-foot plus guys that run and we probably struggled to match them up for height.
“In saying that, we didn’t have enough of the footy to be competitive and if you haven’t got the footy it’s pretty hard to put the ball through the big sticks.”
The Bulldogs produced a disjointed display.
They were super competitive in the first term to hold a five-point lead at quarter-time.
That competitiveness waned in the second term and was non-existent after half-time.
“In the first quarter when we had all the play, we were first in, we made the play, we were proactive and they reacted to us,” Fraser said.
“When quarter-time came, it went the other way and we were chasing them all day.”
Tristan Furr was an exception to the rule – the Bulldogs onballer was ferocious from start to finish.
“He went all day, played on the ball and kept competing,” Fraser said. “I wish we had a few more boys like him.”
Hard-running Mark Pozzuto was rewarded for his tireless efforts with three goals, Aaron Marsh booted two and Mark Zammit, Ricky Munn and Tom Henwood showed flashes.
Fraser was left to lament the drop-off in pressure from his side when the Tigers had the ball in hand. “We’re going to really work on our accountability because I thought that was really ordinary in the second half,” he said.
The Bulldogs hit the road for a date with the Manningham Cobras on Saturday with both desperate to record their first wins of the season.
