HEADING into Saturday's game against Echuca United, Tongala was without its ‘big three’ - Jack Monigatti, Darren Ewing and Cam Ilett - for the first time this Murray Football League season.
But even in the Northern Territory imports’ noticeable absence, Tongala showed it was still the team to beat this season.
Hosting Echuca United at Tongala Recreation Reserve, the Blues came ready to play, firing off 11 scoring shots in the opening quarter before extending their lead to seven goals by half-time.
Continuing the damage into the third term, Tongala booted seven goals to United's two to extend its lead to 75 points to all but certify the winning result.
And while the Eagles would go on to win the fourth quarter - scoring 3.5 to Tongala's 2.2 - it was just a drop in the ocean in what was a resounding Blues tsunami.
Continuing its undefeated run, Tongala coach Jordan Souter said it was pleasing to see his team continue its dominance without the services of Monigatti, Ewing and Ilett.
“We had a few changes from the week before for a few different reasons, so it just gave opportunities to the older blokes,” Souter said.
“The boys we brought up did really well. We were impressed with the way they went about it.
“They were a little bit nervous going in, because we haven't played without the Darwin boys so far.
“But it panned out pretty well in the end.”
With a gaping hole left in the forward line by Ewing (21 goals in three appearances), it was Makenzie Ryan (five goals) and Jack Hammond (five) who stepped up to fill the void.
Further up the field, Nick Jamieson was best afield, while Kyle Fitzgerald impressed in the ruck.
With Echuca United coach Adam Sutherland labelling Tongala's kicking game the key difference on the day, Souter said it continued to be an area of vast improvement for his side.
“We've been working on our kicking game for three or four years,” Souter said.
“We worked out that was our weakness and have been honing in on trying to improve it.
“We still turn the ball over at critical times, which we need to get better at but it's improving over the journey.”
As for United, despite the result, the performance was as good as one could hope for after its lacklustre performance against Deniliquin in round three.
And after its opening three rounds saw big fourth quarter fadeouts from the Eagles, the biggest development was their final quarter triumph.
“We are doing a lot right for periods of the game, but we aren't doing enough right for long enough,” Sutherland said.
“The good teams are cashing in on it.
“We said at three-quarter-time, we need to make a stand here.
“We can’t continue with this happening.”
While a teenage Matt Lias was United's best performer, Sutherland was also full of praise for cousins Jesse and Corey Garner.
“I was very happy with a lot of their game,” Sutherland said.
“Corey’s pace in particular was an eye-opener for us. We hadn't seen that side of his game, and now he knows what he is capable of, I'd love to think he'll show that a fair bit more often.”
With James Curnow succumbing to an injury mid-match, Sutherland said United would welcome Tom Wallis back into its line-up ahead of Numurkah in round five.
“He won't be the difference maker, but just his experience and know-how will help Lias and all the other on-ballers,” Sutherland.