With or without David Mundy, the Seymour Football Club will be one to watch in 2024.
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The Lions are ready for action after concluding their pre-season hit-outs with no better statement to make than going three-for-three in Saturday’s trio of games at Nagambie.
The first two games pitted the under-18 and reserves sides against the hosting Lakers, while the seniors welcomed Northcote Park from the Northern Football Netball League’s second division.
The result was a picture-perfect clean sweep in sunny conditions, with the juniors wiping Nagambie out to the tune of 54 points, while the reserves overcame the Lakers in a much tighter 10-point win.
Most importantly, the senior side would have picked up a significant degree of confidence in notching a 62-point belting of its metropolitan foes.
Coach Ben Davey saw upsides as the Goulburn Valley League season rapidly nears but will not take too much stock in the practice affair.
“It was a good hit-out. We got what we wanted on a nice, warm day, getting to work on our ball movement and our defensive set-ups,” Davey said.
“Practice matches are called that for a reason: you don’t get points for playing them, and you rarely have the exact team you want for round one playing a practice game.
“We’re happy to have a win and get some confidence up, because some of our young guys thrive on it and we've got a good crop coming through, but there's no four points.”
Conceding that, like his side, Northcote Park was “a few players off their best”, Davey nonetheless anticipates the challenge of an away season opener against a Tatura side many have tipped to improve dramatically.
“We'll have another match sim Thursday before we get set for Tatura on their home deck,” Davey said.
“They’ll be pretty good with a few guys from up in the NTFL and a few who played in Melbourne last year, so that’ll be a good challenge to kick (the season) off.”
Most important for now was the relatively clean medical report coming out of Saturday’s tune-up.
With one rolled ankle the only confirmed issue to emerge, the Lions have retained a full complement on their way into the new season, but Lachlan Waite will miss round one due to suspension.