Coates Talent League live stream: Bendigo Pioneers v GWS Giants girls and boys doubleheader (Coates Talent League)

Bendigo Pioneers kicked 19 majors and had their Coates League boys contest with GWS Giants wrapped up nice and early, but it wasn’t all bad news for the Sydney club. Relive the action.

A big first half paved the way for Bendigo Pioneers to pick up their first win of the 2023 Coates Talent League boys season on Saturday.

The Pioneers sprinted out of the blocks against the visiting GWS Giants, opening up a 44-7 quarter time lead and extending the advantage to 76-19 by halftime.

They added another 48 points in the second half to win 19.10 (124) to 6.6 (42).

Bendigo Pioneers v GWS Giants (Girls)

Meanwhile, GWS Giants continued their excellentform in the Coates Talent League Girls competition with a commanding victory over Bendigo Pioneers.

The Giants, who narrowly lost their first game to the Tassie Devils, have now won two in a row, following on their huge win over Gippsland with a 25-point success - 55-30 - over the Pioneers.

PREVIEW

Harley Reid and the Bendigo Pioneers are hurting after the opening round of the Coates Talent League season.

The Pioneers will look to get their season back on track when they host the GWS Giants Academy on Saturday at Queen Elizabeth Oval.

The game will be live streamed from 11.45am by KommunityTV as the second part of a double header, which also features the girls’ teams of both clubs squaring off at 9.45am.

Pioneers coach Danny O’Bree said his side had learnt plenty in the season opener against the Greater Western Victoria Rebels.

Harley Reid will be crucial to the Pioneers’ chances on Saturday.

“We didn’t play anywhere near as well as we would have liked,” O’Bree said.

“Not taking anything away from the Rebels, they played an exceptional brand of footy that limited us to get going.

“We’re taking a patient approach with this group at the moment because we’ve still got a lot of players unavailable, but the experience is only going to benefit us in the long run.”

Reid’s name has been splashed across the AFL world throughout the opening two rounds of the AFL season, with the Tongala product expected to be the number one pick in this year’s draft.

He enjoyed a strong start to the season with 21 disposals and two goals last week, but there were other strong performers for O’Bree and company.

Undersized ruck Tait Poyser, who stands at 186cm, battled in the ruck and found himself named among the Pioneers better players in a performance which included 21 hit-outs, 11 disposals and four tackles.

Tait Poyser and Will Burke have drawn rich praise.

“He just wants to compete,” O’Bree said.

“We’re not judging him on his ruck craft and playing in there at the moment is allowing Tait to spend more time in the middle of the ground.

“He and Will Burke tried their hearts out. We’re missing a few of our bigger guys at the moment but we’re hoping to have them back in a few weeks.”

Bottom aged prospects Tobie Travaglia and Tom Evans also won praise in the wake of their side’s defeat to the Rebels.

Evans finished with 17 disopsoals and two goals while Travaglia was impressive in the air.

“Tobie took some critical marks throughout the game,” O’Bree said.

“I thought Tom was exceptional, in particular his work rate. He had an impact right across the ground.”

The Giants will also be looking for their first win of the season after going down to the Northern Knights by seven points.

The Giants’ girls are coming off a strong win and will prove a tough task for the Pioneers

Daniel Gauci (32 disposals) and Harvey Thomas (30) were among the big ball winners for the Giants.

Meanwhile in the girls game, the Giants will be looking to continue their winning ways after accounting for Gippsland Power by 45 points last weekend.

Sophia de Castella, Melanie Staunton, Cleo Buttifant and Bridget Corcoran were among their side’s better players.

The Pioneers also fell to the Rebels in their last outing with Caitlin Evans and Gemma Roberts among the better players.

Originally published as Coates Talent League live stream: Bendigo Pioneers v GWS Giants girls and boys doubleheader (Coates Talent League)