Top-of-the-ladder Brunswick faced off against ninth-placed St Mary’s Salesian at Gillon Oval on Saturday and, when the home side had three goals on the board in the opening six minutes of the game, before going on to lead by 36 points at quarter-time, it looked like a percentage-booster was on the cards, however, the complexion of the contest changed so much over the ensuing three quarters the NOBs were forced to batten down the hatches in the final term to secure a hard-fought 21-point win.

What happened, you may ask? It is very good question. For starters, such was Brunswick’s dominance in the opening term they should have led by eight or nine goals in ideal conditions, with a litany of missed chances in front of the big sticks a pre-cursor of things to come. The NOBs were then soundly beaten in the second quarter by an away side who turned up their pressure from non-existent to excellent. At half-time all the talk should have been about the prospects of a thumping win, but instead it was about our woeful field and goal kicking, as well as some undisciplined frees and 50 metre penalties.

Coach Tom Hunter straightened up his charges at the main break and the result was a more-focussed effort around the ball in the third quarter, which led to Tom Wilson snagging the NOBs’ first major for over half-an-hour, before Hayden Parker slammed through two-in-a-minute to extend the margin to a game-high 44 points after 12 minutes. But that would be that in terms of goals from Brunswick, as their game degenerated and St Mary’s started to build belief, kicking four-in-a-row between the 16-minute marks of the third and fourth terms, which meant there was still enough time left in the game for St Mary’s to steal the win, but thankfully we were able to stem the flow and hold on.

It may not have been a victory to savour, but it should serve as a wake-up call for Brunswick, as an analysis of the ladder shows our five wins have come against teams occupying the bottom five spots. The weeks to come will show where we stand amongst the likely contenders this season, with greater consistency of performance the key to unlocking our potential.

It was difficult to identify four-quarter performers on the day such was the patchy nature of Brunswick’s game. Key midfielders Angus Ross and Nick Burgin again stood out, alongside the consistent Ben Wilson and ruckman Tom O’Farrell. Lewis McKenzie and Tahj Haddock were solid in defence, while Josh Hedley and Aidan Pollock showed their experience. Hayden Parker had another good day in front of the sticks with four majors, while Tom Wilson snagged a couple and could have had more.

Next week will be a big away game against Melbourne High School, who are always difficult to beat. See you there!