Woodend-Hesket claims first win of the season after disruptive start to RDFNL season

RDFNL grand finalist Woodend-Hesket claimed its first win of the season and coach Alistair Rae says the club will only get better after a disruptive start to the season.

Ollie Watt in action for Woodend-Hesket. Picture: Hamish Blair

After a disruptive start to the RDFNL season, Woodend-Hesket found its rhythm on Saturday and claimed its first win of the year.

The Hawks romped to an 81-point win over Lancefield at Gilbert Gordon Oval.

Bowen Medal winner Daniel Toman was utterly dominant, collecting 40 disposals and kicking four goals.

It was a strong response after 53- and 26-point losses to Kyneton and Macedon in the opening fortnight.

Coach Alistair Rae said the only was up up after early struggles.

Caleb Dumper in action for Woodend-Hesket. Picture: Hamish Blair

“We’d been playing pretty poorly, we’ve got a new, young group and just hadn’t gelled yet.

“(Lancefield) pushed Diggers Rest for three quarters in Round 1 and almost beat us twice last year, so we were pretty respectful of them.

“(The mood) was reasonable, considering the couple of losses, because we knew it was controllable.

“We weren’t getting beaten by teams that were so much better than us, we were just playing poorly and a lot of the things were in our control and could get better.

“As coach, I looked at it and thought I don’t think we can get much worse.

“We had players out, the team was chopping and changing with injuries and guys away, so we knew there was a fair bit of upside.”

Toman was a clear standout, while Trent Laverie, Ryley Ferguson and Kyle Baker also impressed.

The challenges now get bigger.

A trip to undefeated ladder-leader Riddell at Riddell’s Creek Reserve awaits this weekend before facing reigning premier Diggers Rest and then preliminary final foe Wallan.

Woodend-Hesket will welcome back key midfielder Dean Bramley and Calder Cannons-listed young gun Ollie Watt for the clash.

However, the disruptions will continue with as many as four players out from the win over Lancefield.

Riley Patterson is also missing, still in Darwin after being a part of Jabiru Bombers’ NTFL Division 1 grand final side.

Rae said the clash against the Bombers was a “nothing to lose sort of game”.

However, the first-year coach was confident his team would find its feet as the season progressed.

“We knew we’re only going to get better as the season goes on,” he said.

“I thought we were going to get better after the weekend’s win but we’ve had a couple of outs so we might take a step back.

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“Riley is definitely playing it’s just a matter of when, he’s obviously a pretty critical player for us.

“We’ll get Dean Bramley back, who’s an important player, and Ollie Watt is available from Assumption school footy.”

For Lancefield, James Falcone, Leroy Ristevski, Michael Conlan and Darren Robinson were best in defeat as the team only managed two goals for the match.

The Tigers and Melton Central are now the only teams to register a win this season.