Magpies too strong for Hawks in battle of the birds

“It was a good performance,” he said.

“I think we had five or six changes. So for those blokes to come in and still sort of have a pretty convincing win, it was good for the boys."

While the scoreline suggests a relatively comfortable day out for the Magpies, the Hawks challenged in the second quarter, outscoring the home side to pull within 15 points at half-time and set up an intriguing second half.

The third quarter ultimately proved the difference in the game, however, as Moama piled on seven goals to two and put paid to any hopes Barooga had of causing a big upset.

“We've got to play four quarters of footy,” was the message Sheldon delivered at half-time.

“The opposition is always going to come at you at some point during the day, whether it's early, late or in the middle of the game.

“And for us, the second quarter has probably been our worst quarter so far. We've just got a few things we've got to rectify there in terms of just trying for four quarters and sort of not relaxing, I guess, or letting fatigue get the better of us for a little bit, and sort of soaking up the opposition's best shot a bit better.”

Nick Pavlou’s four goals earned him the best-on-ground accolade, while Jack Sheldon also earned praise from the coach on his debut for the club. Jye Smith (three goals) and Jye Warren (one goal) were also among the best in what Sheldon said was a very even spread.

“We had a lot of good contributors across the board,” he said.

“We just probably didn't quite click for four quarters but, you know, we showed signs of improving and going in the sort of direction we want to go.”

Moama sees itself in a strong ladder position following the win, sitting in fourth with a game in hand over those ahead of it, and Sheldon makes no effort to hide the desire to keep climbing.

“Obviously in our league you've got to finish one and two to get the second chance, and then after that, you're back with everyone,” he said.

“Our goal is to finish as high as we can and as healthy as we can and then see how we go, and obviously the more games we win during the year, it holds you in a better position going forward.

“So that's sort of where it sits for us at the moment. We've started pretty well, so as long as we just keep improving, keep going in that general direction, we’ll only get better.

“Obviously a few boys haven’t really played together at all, so yeah, as long as we just keep improving and get to know each other better and better, we’ll get stronger week by week hopefully.”

The Magpies will make the trip to Deniliquin next week when they face the Rams, aiming to make it four wins from their opening five games.