BRAYBROOK made a bold statement in the season opener that under new coach John Whelan it will be no pushover in the Western Region Football League division 2.
The Bombers hit the ground running on Saturday with an impressive 18-point win over the much-hyped Laverton Magpies on the road at Laverton Park.
Whelan told the Weekly the first-up victory was a byproduct of a tough preseason training regime led by a team of specialist coaches.
“It was a great start for us,” he said.
“The most pleasing aspect was that we ran the game right out.
“The boys kept running and running and running. We had a big preseason for that reason.”
The Bombers stalled out of the gates to be trailing by 17 points at quarter-time. There was a huge discrepancy in scoring shots with the Magpies holding sway nine to two.
Whelan called for adjustments to his playing style and his players abided by his wishes.
“Laverton were getting really good run off their half-back,” Whelan said.
“We were mindful of that and rotated out exceptionally well through the midfield to counter that.
“We also started winning the midfield clearances.”
The Bombers started to get their hands on the ball first, with ruckman David Burnside asserting his physicality around the stoppages.
Burnside, a recruit from Powerhouse in the Victorian Amateur Football Association, got it done in the air and at ground level.
“He gave us real drive out of the centre,” Whelan said. “His second and third efforts were outstanding.”
The Whelan boys – Jake and Chris – had the ball on a string in the midfield. Jake was voted in as captain after showing tremendous leadership on the training track during summer and this translated into a superb opening day performance.
While the Bombers are a youth-driven outfit, they’re not short of leaders, with Lee Braun, Lee Allen and Leigh Browney in the line-up.
Braun capped a best-on-ground performance with a goal.
The chief goalkicker for the Bombers was excitement machine Jamie Lane with four, followed by two apiece to Jake Whelan and Browney.
The Bombers will head into the Easter break with their tails up.
In other games, Albanvale booted 55 goals against North Sunshine to win by a whopping 356 points, Caroline Springs was overrun in a 10-point loss to West Footscray and Glenorden’s return to the second tier got off to a flyer with a 19-point win over highly rated Coburg Districts.
