Macedon finds itself in the identical situation to what it was in 12 months ago … starting the Riddell District Football League season 5-0.
But this time round, Cats’ coach Jeff Andrews thinks they are better off.
After the good start last year, the Cats faded to finish fifth on the ladder before losing in the first round of finals.
“Last year we didn’t beat anyone who was a threat in the first few weeks and then had to play them all in the middle of the season,” Andrews said.
“This year we’ve beaten Broadford and Rupertswood, who we think will be up there.
“In the next block of matches we play Wallan, Lancefield, Riddell and Diggers Rest and we’ve got to keep improving and get better each week.
“We need to stay ahead of the curve. Being relatively free of injury will help too.”
Happy with a 5-0 start, Andrews said there was still plenty of work to do. He said the team had only played out a full game in two matches.The most recent was on Saturday, when they beat Rockbank 20.13 (133)-4.2 (26).
“We had the breeze in the first quarter and made the most of it,” Andrews said.
“For us, it was more about how we played and how we defended.
“We’ll look at the stats and the vision and work out whether we stuck to things. The scoreboard is irrelevant.”
Shaun Harrison, Jack Kernan, Darren Goodwin, Jason Cooke and Jack Mills kicked three goals each in the win.
Casey Summerfield was best on ground, carrying on his good start to the season after moving from Gisborne in the off season.
“Casey and Tom [Waters] have done exactly what we wanted them to. They’ve exceeded expectations,” Andrews said.
“They train every night and are doing extra work. When they do the extra work it gets other players to do it too.”
Macedon has the week off because of the interleague clash and Andrews is looking for more consistent football when the team returns to the field.
“In three matches we’ve played well in one quarter and kicked seven or eight goals and that has got us over the line,” he said.
“We’ve played good opposition and we need to make sure we aren’t getting ahead of ourselves.”
In other results, Woodend-Hesket shocked Sunbury Kangaroos; Riddell was too good for Melton Centrals; Wallan won a thriller over Lancefield; Diggers Rest remained undefeated after beating Rupertswood; and Broadford opened its account with victory over Romsey.
