Gisborne coach Rod Sharp declares his side will get better in second half of Bendigo Football League season

Hot on the heels of Sandhurst and Strathfieldsaye, Gisborne coach Rod Sharp says his side will improve over the rest of the Bendigo Football League season.

Tim Walsh of Gisborne handballs as he is tackled during the Bendigo Football League match between Gisborne and Maryborough in Gisborne on Saturday 27th April, 2013.

SANDHURST might be unbeaten and Strathfieldsaye flying, but Gisborne coach Rod Sharp is confident his team can match the Bendigo Football League’s best two sides over the final months of the 2014 season.

The Dogs maintained third spot on the ladder with a 21.11 (137) to 6.10 (46) win against Maryborough on Saturday, but are still two games behind second-placed Strathfieldsaye.

Sharp said his side had achieved what was expected of it, accounting for teams below it on the ladder with regularity.

But he said the onus was on Gisborne to beat the competition’s other contenders and improve its football over the remainder of the campaign.

“We haven’t beaten the sides that are around us or above us on the ladder, so we aren’t getting too carried away with beating these sides we should,” Sharp said.

“It’s good that we’re playing reasonably good footy, but at the end of the day we’ve got to beat one or two of these better sides in the second half of the year to see if we’ve improved.”

Sharp said Gisborne posed a different challenge to the league’s top-two because they played without a traditional key forward.

Jarrad Lynch has been the focal point of the Dogs attack with 24 goals from 11 games, with defender Ben Sonogan the next best with 21.

“As the year goes on you keep learning what is your best footy,” Sharp said.

“I think we’re really starting to realise what we need to do and how we’re going to play our best footy with the type of side we’ve got.

“We don’t have massive, big guys and huge key forwards, we’re a running, young side and that’s what we need to believe in.”

Pat McKenna has benefited from a move to the centre square in recent weeks, proving his class as part of the Dogs midfield rotation.

The Victorian Second XI cricketer was best afield in Saturday’s 91-point win, finishing with three goals to take his season tally to 17.

Sharp said he had no doubt McKenna — who kicked 16 goals in an under-18 game earlier this year — would be playing TAC Cup for Calder Cannons if his cricket commitments permitted.

Gisborne hosts finals aspirants Kyneton this weekend, who enter the clash off the back of a 43-point loss against Sandhurst.