Take away the confusion that reigned at the conclusion of Bell Park’s thrilling one-point win over Colac at Hamlyn Park, there is no doubt the Dragons deserve to be part of September action.
After handing St Mary’s a 73-point hiding the previous week, James Saker’s men took down another team above them on the ladder to maintain fifth spot on the ladder.
And while the talking point will be a siren that caught everyone by surprise, it should be the stunning opening quarter burst that Bell Park produced.
The Dragons, spearheaded by talisman Jack Sarcevic, piled on six goals while keeping the Tigers scoreless, to open up a 36-point lead.
Five minutes into the second term, that buffer was 49 points before Colac mounted their stunning comeback.
“The first quarter was as good as we could go,” Saker told K rock Football.
“We were disappointed at half-time that a few guys probably just got a bit ahead of themselves and tried some stuff that wasn’t in their make-up and wasn’t us.
“We said at half-time, ‘We got an education about what not to do, but fortunately they missed a few goals’, and we still kept our head in front.
“But in the second half, when they did come, I was really pleased with our guys.
“We still tried to move the ball; we still thought we could score. Whereas years gone by, I think we would have probably put the cue in the rack and just gone long down the line, and that would have played into their hands.
“So I was really pleased with that.”
Geelong VFL-listed Sarcevic finished with six goals, including calmly slotting a set shot at the 19-minute mark of the final term to extend the margin to 13 points.
“Because he’s, I guess, so talented, we probably haven’t educated him with how to come up to the stoppage and be effective and how we can use him as a bit more of a tool to help us when things aren’t going great; It’s sort of been forward or bust,” Saker said.
“So I think we’ve got some education into him the last month as well, and he was able to change things up.
“His last quarter, it was really good. His clutch goal on a day that (a) few boys missed some pretty easy ones, it was impressive.
“And to get six (goals), it’s obviously the difference.”
The performance of assistant coach Ben Lloyd was also crucial for Bell Park.
In a best-on-ground performance, he finished with 32 disposals and took 17 marks, of which ten were intercept marks.
Zac Mirkovic followed up his 37 possessions against St Mary’s with 30 disposals and 12 marks.
Despite the loss, which cost Colac the opportunity to claim top spot, injured co-coach Seb Ross was happy to look at the positives, highlighted by levelling the scores during the third quarter.
“Bell Park have been in amazing form, really,” he said. “Sometimes the worst thing that can happen is (to) get beaten by what you know.
“So we know they like to go quick off turnover, and they score really well off that. And that’s basically what the first quarter was about.
“It helped they kicked extremely straight and we didn’t get any shots.
“Outside of that, we actually felt like, from the boundary line, we were dominating most aspects of the game.
“Our clearance game got going. We were really strong behind the footy. We were able to lock the ball more in our forward half, which helped us score.”
After missing last week to watch sister Zara help the Melbourne Vixens to last week’s Super Netball title, Jarrod Walters finished with 30 disposals.
Ben McCarthy was again busy with 24 possessions and ten clearances.
Zach Zdybel rucked tirelessly against the combination of Ollie Hicks and Eli Pearce, finishing with 39 hitouts, 22 clearances, and 11 clearances.
The Tigers return home for their last outing at Central Reserve for a meeting with Geelong West, while Bell Park should maintain fifth spot when it travels to Windsor Park to take on North Shore.
St Mary’s fell just short of snatching back third spot from Colac despite a comfortable 86-point win over Grovedale at Burdoo Reserve.
The Saints improved their percentage to 208.24, 1.85% behind the Tigers, with the 20.15 (135) to 8.1 (49) result.
Jack Willson kicked a career-high four goals for the winners, with Grovedale veteran Ryan Abbott contributing three for the home team.
In his 200th GFNL senior game, Saint Jarryd Garner led the disposal count, finishing with 29.
St Albans will finish with its most wins in a season since 2015 after reversing its early-season loss to Geelong West, with a five-point victory at St Albans Reserve.
The Supersaints fell seven points short of the Giants in Round 2, but despite finishing the contest with six consecutive behinds, held on for an 11.14 (80) to 10.15 (75) victory.
Spearhead Tom Higgins, who re-signed for 2026 during the week, kicked three goals, while Sam Donegan brought his recent good VFL form back to St Albans with him as he racked up 26 disposals.
Zekiah Davey kicked three goals for the Giants, with Lachie Taylor’s 21 possessions best for the visitors.
An eight-goal haul from Connor Giddings was the highlight as Leopold claimed a 137-point win over Lara at Memorial Park.
Sam Scott was also busy with five goals, while Logan Wagener gathered 35 disposals in the midfield.
However, despite the 24.22 (166) to 4.5 (29) result, the Lions remain six points outside the top five with three rounds remaining.
In his return from a concussion, Cats midfielder Darby Henderson tallied 42 possessions.
Fraser Fort has taken the lead on the GFNL goalkicking table, with a six-goal haul spearheading South Barwon to a 132-point hiding of North Shore at McDonald Reserve, 22.23 (155) to 3.5 (23)
Fort moved to 47 goals for the season, one clear of Leopold’s Connor Giddings.
The Swans’ midfield was dominant, with Doyle Madigan gathering 36 disposals, and Todd White and Sam James 32 apiece.
Seagull Connor Walmsley continued a season that will see him in GFNL Team of the Year discussion.
He had 31 disposals, of which 20 were contested.
X: @krockfootball
