EFNL Premier Division: ‘Lots to take out of it’ as Noble Park falls short of reigning premier Balwyn

It may not have taken home the points in its King’s Birthday weekend blockbuster, but Noble Park certainly didn’t lose any fans against the reigning premier. Coach Steve Hughes explains.

DON’T be fooled by the end margin.

It may not have taken home the four points in its annual King’s Birthday weekend blockbuster, but Noble Park certainly wouldn’t have lost any fans in its 9.9 (63) to 16.10 (106) defeat to a much more experienced Balwyn on Saturday.

Midway through the final quarter, the young, visiting Bulls trailed the reigning premier by just seven points.

The Tigers finished with a six-goal rush to extend their winning run to five – but Noble Park senior coach Steve Hughes, measured in his assessment, said there was “lots to take out of it”.

EFNL 2025: Noble Park trailed Balwyn by seven points midway through the last term. Picture: Field of View Photography

“That was a fair portion of my post-game message – I thought we were super for 110 minutes and frustrated with the last 10,” Hughes said, after the Bulls trailed by just a point at the half and 14 at the final change.

“We sort of fell away dramatically in the last 10 minutes and they got a hold of us on the scoreboard, and I think most people at the game would’ve felt like a seven-goal margin probably wasn’t reflective of the game, but that’s in the books now.

“Against a side of the quality that ran out for Balwyn, you’ve got to make every post a winner – even just some easy shots we missed throughout the game.

“Collectively out of the game we’ve got some building blocks and some things to work on that we feel positive about, but we’ve just got to tidy up some other stuff.”

Hughes said he was “genuinely pleased” with his side’s collective effort, led by Josh Tour – listed as the Bulls’ best afield in keeping the lively Balwyn captain to just one major.

“I felt like almost all of the list executed their role – and that can be Lachie McDonnell who’s obviously a big ball winner for us, then there’s Josh Tour who kept Charlie (Haley) pretty quiet,” he said.

Meanwhile, a swag of the Bulls’ emerging names took on some of the league’s toughest tasks.

“We gave Tom Taborsky the role on Nathan Oakes, and ‘Oakesy’ did his thing, but Tom’s playing his seventh game of football against probably Balwyn’s most in-form forward, and I thought did a really good job,” Hughes said.

“I thought our ruckman Dan Knapper was really good, Liam O’Rourke’s playing on a bloke out of the AFL system (Sam Durdin) and gave us a target – again, a bloke that’s played maybe a dozen games of senior footy.

“There was just so much to be satisfied about with the way our group went about it.”

Noble Park is away to Doncaster East in Round 8.