Magpies swoop Cats to deliver brilliant win on the road

The difference in output from last weekend to the dominant performance against Finley was put down to one simple factor, according to Moama co-coach Jye Warren.

“We just turned up to play,” he said.

“It's obviously a massive ground out at Finley, we probably over the last couple years haven't really done well on those bigger grounds, we sort of really like the smaller deck.

“But with our bit of youth that we've injected over the last few weeks with the Pioneers boys in Lachie Hogan and Mitch Bell, we just felt like we could stretch them over the ground and really utilise that space.

“We had a couple of really nice jobs that we obviously wanted to make sure were done throughout the day, and a couple of the players that we gave the opportunity to play on some really experienced and elite players did an extremely good job.

“I was just rapt that we probably just got the four quarters done and kept going, so it was nice.”

Having built a three-goal buffer at quarter-time, which stayed steady at 17 points when the two sides went into the rooms for the main break, the Magpies exploded out of the blocks in the third term to take the contest well and truly away from the Cats.

Putting 5.4 on the board in the term, the visitors restricted Finley to just three behinds for the quarter to enter the final change with a lead of 48 points, which they extended even further with a six-goal-to-three fourth quarter.

Warren said the message was a simple one at half-time from himself and fellow co-coach Sam Sheldon, with the side keen to avoid a repeat of previous clashes where they had let the win slip from similar positions.

“We’ve sort of thrown up the white flag a bit the last few weeks if things are getting a little bit hard out there, and haven’t really followed through with what we wanted to do,” he said.

“On the weekend (the message) was just keep cracking in, keep putting that pressure on, take the game on through the middle as much as we can.

“Those were the main focus points at half-time, and to just enjoy the contact and the contest, and hopefully on the outside we can get them, so it was just pressure, have a bit of fun, and hopefully stretch them with the switch.”

Lachie Hogan has enjoyed a stellar campaign so far with the Bendigo Pioneers in the Coates Talent League, and his class was on show in a best on-ground performance for the Magpies at the weekend, with Warren praising the young gun’s maturity.

"Unfortunately, because we've got the bye (next week) we don't get him again for a few weeks, but he’s been instrumental,” he said.

“For a young fella, he's come a long way, he's matured physically and mentally and really started to take the game by the throat and take the game on.

“That's how we used him yesterday, just a handball behind and making sure he had the footy in his hands at all times, and he didn't miss. He set up a lot of the play yesterday, which was nice.”

Danny Brewster and Mitch Lake were among the goals with four each for the Pies, as were Liam Barrett and Jack Rusell with three, while Tom Holman (2) and Jordan McGregor (1) also found the middle of the big sticks.

James Whitehead, Fraser Verhey and Josh Pell joined Hogan, Russell and Lake among the best in what was a significant win for the side, who sit third going into the second week of the split round.

With a bye next weekend, Moama will next be in action when it hosts Tongala on May 4 in what shapes as a brilliant contest, with the Blues off to a solid start at 2-1 after three games.