Woodend-Hesket coach Ben Tankard’s relief after first win of 2021
After being thrashed last week, Woodend-Hesket coach Ben Tankard admitted he was feeling the pinch but his team responded strongly against Melton Central.
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Woodend-Hesket coach Ben Tankard admits he was feeling a bit of pressure after Saturday’s 51-point win over Melton Central.
The Hawks started the season with losses to Diggers Rest (32 points) and Romsey (106 points) and were desperate to open their 2021 RDFL account against the Blues.
In an arm-wrestle until half-time, Woodend-Hesket produced a dominant second-half to run away 12.11 (83) to 5.2 (32) at Arnold’s Creek Reserve.
“It was a pretty big relief, there was a fair bit of pressure on us coming off a horrible loss last week,” Tankard said.
“We certainly didn’t play our best footy in the first half but we got some good momentum and played some good footy in the second half, which gives us a lot of confidence.
“I’m a new coach at the club, we’ve brought in some recruits and there’s been a little bit of noise about us.
“I was very nervous, if we had have hit 0-3 against a side we probably should beat that would have put the heat on me and deservedly so.”
Tankard was pleased with his team’s response after last week’s humiliation.
“The whole theme of the day was to get back to basics,” he said.
“We thought we dominated the second quarter but we kicked quite a few points and didn’t get the scoreboard reward.
“It was almost the breaking of the dam wall, we had a really good third quarter then went over the top in the last and had a bit of fun.”
Arguably Woodend-Hesket’s biggest recruit, Wayne Patak, was best-on-ground in a dazzling display, while Jesse Sheppard, Marcus Stapleton and Aaron French also impressed.
Rory Alexander, Jordan Filakis and Josh Pound all booted three goals.
“Wayne was outstanding, I thought he was probably the best player on the ground in Round 1 but that was another level above (on Saturday),” Tankard said.
With so many new faces coming in since the end of 2019, Tankard admitted jelling had been an issue in the opening games.
After getting some momentum and cohesion, the Hawks now have an ill-timed bye.
Tankard hoped to get two or three key players back for the Round 5 clash against arch-rival Macedon.
“When you bring in nine or 10 players like we have, we’re having a lot of trouble with our chemistry and connection, which is also a good thing because it means our best footy is ahead of us,” he said.
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“We’ve got the bye next week but we should have two or three back (the following week) in our biggest rivalry against Macedon.
“We’d love to play next week but we’ll use it to our advantage and try and freshen up.”
Milan Savic put in his second straight best-on-ground performance for Melton Central in the loss, while Peter Akech and Jarrod Spry were also strong.
The Blues face the difficult task of beating Diggers Rest with the Burras looking to break a two-game losing streak.
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