Bell Park coach James Saker believes his young side’s best footy is better than last year, but they just need to put it together for longer.
The Dragons made finals last year and only narrowly lost in the first week to eventual runners-up South Barwon.
On Saturday they held on to defeat Grovedale by two points in a thriller.
“We’re extremely young and you do get the inconsistency, but that’s what we’re striving to get in our game,” Saker said.
“We think our best footy this season is better than what our best stuff was last year, but it just hasn’t been consistent yet.”
Bell Park led by 22 points at the last change on Saturday, but Grovedale stormed home. After two close losses this season, Saker said the win was a “relief”.
“They threw a lot of numbers forward and we were happy to make the stoppages as dense as we could and try and get territory that last five minutes,” he said.
“I was really proud of how brave we were to put our heads over the ball and our discipline with our tackling.
“We’ve been doing a lot of work on our tackling in the last month with a specialist tackling coach and I think some of that helped us get over the line as well, without giving away any free kicks in the last frantic few minutes.”
The seventh-placed Dragons are a game and percentage away from Colac in fourth spot.
“I think because we’ve dropped a couple early, nearly every game is getting to an eight-point game for us,” Saker said.
“We’re probably sitting in a position where we can only afford to lose two or three more for the year.”
Saker said Bell Park would work to become a more consistent side.
“Particularly against teams that are top five,” he said.
“That will be a key indicator for us whether we can get over the line in those games. But for us to see improvement across the group is being able to be a bit more consistent especially when challenged in those games with top five aspirants and just trying to score more effectively and efficiently than we have been.
“I think we’re getting enough of the ball. We’re just not using it well enough to kick winning scores.”
The Dragons now turn their attention to big improvers St Albans in round 8 at Hamlyn Park.
“Every game is important,” Saker said.
“It will be nice to get back home and we’re playing against a team that seems to be doing really well and consistent in themselves. So it’s a big challenge.”
NEWTOWN & Chilwell prevailed against St Joseph’s in a good old fashioned wet-weather slog on Sunday. Conditions were atrocious, but Ned Harris starred for the Towners as did midfielder Liam Nash.
PATRICK Dowling booted 11 goals for St Mary’s against North Shore while Sam Bourke and Jarryd Garner each kicked four.
LEOPOLD was too good for Lara with Connor Giddings bagging seven majors and Kyle Bumpstead five.
SOUTH Barwon defeated St Albans in an entertaining game with Oscar Pollock snagging five goals and Sam Donegan best for the Supersaints.
ADAM Garner was best for Colac in a 68-point win against Geelong West while Jonathan Simpkin kicked five goals. Riley Moore chalked up yet another great game for the Giants.
