On Saturday, the LBU coach saw one of his own — Jarod Bacon — play the game of his life.
‘‘I genuinely haven’t seen a guy play like that in a very long time,’’ he said.
The LBU forward was near perfect in his side’s clash with Leitchville-Gunbower, booting six goals while playing off the half-forward flank.
‘‘There wasn’t a single player on the ground who could have matched up on him — it was fantastic to watch.’’
Bacon’s performance — and the 75-point victory for the Cats it inspired — meant any doubt who the local kings of the Heathcote District Football League was gone, as the Cats continued their red-hot 2019 season in style.
Oliver said the key was his team’s consistency.
‘‘It was really pleasing to see the boys produce a full four-quarter effort,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve been winning games this season by playing one or two really good quarters, but we have struggled at times to play our best football for the full match. We were able to produce at a high level all day (Saturday).’’
A second victory against the reigning premiers provides extra confidence for the Cats in the event of another local showdown in September.
‘‘I think it gives us the belief we can beat them if we meet them again,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve been on the wrong end of those results at different stages throughout the past few years, so it gives a bit of confidence in the direction we are going.’’
Bombers coach Danny Teskera said his team had not played to the standard required.
‘‘It wasn’t our best game,’’ he said.
‘‘We went into the game believing we would match up pretty well against them, but from the first bounce it was really difficult for us to find our way into the game.
‘‘We played in our shells a bit and were very reactive in the way we went about things, we let the game come to us which is not ideal.’’
While the Bombers believe they are good enough to match it with the other top sides, Teskera said the match was a firm reminder of how quickly things can change.
‘‘If you are even slightly off against one of the top sides in our competition, they will take you apart,’’ he said.
‘‘We didn’t have our best game of the season, we were well and truly outplayed and the Cats got a big win.’’
The Bombers take on Heathcote this round, a side who broke through on Saturday for their first win of the season.
‘‘We’re still focused on each week as it comes,’’ Teskera said.
‘‘We have a young side, we’re still developing as a team so we simply need to focus on what each week looks like for us.’’
The Cats will have a week off after playing their round 14 clash with White Hills prior to round one.
19°C