DANNY Finn knows it will be a few weeks until he can get a serious idea about how Kolora-Noorat will fare this Warrnambool and District league season.
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But having watched his men dismantle Deakin University at Noorat Recreation Reserve on Saturday, he’s already upbeat about what could be in store.
The Power did what most expected it to do in registering the 26.24 (180) to 1.5 (11) win, keeping the Sharks goalless after quarter-time and adding 21 itself.
But beyond the margin, there was much for the new coach to be rapt with. At the top of that list was the performance of midfield leader Joe Kenna.
Kenna was a clear best-afield, finding possessions at will and kicking seven goals, most after getting on the end of a chain of handballs.
Few matches in the six months to come will be as dominated by one player. But he was not alone — almost all his teammates had an impact at some point.
Jono Gleeson rivalled Kenna for the top honours in the first half while Joe Conheady showed how valuable he will be as a lively and creative small forward.
The big men — Matt Fidge, Paul McSween and Jake Richardson — were also effective, as was Damian Wynd when he went to full-forward in the second half.
McSween was the pick of the bunch. He led and marked strongly, but his goals tally would have been five — and not one — had he kicked straight.
There were others, too. Scott Judd and 100-gamer Ben Kenna did what they wanted at half-back and Joe and George O’Sullivan were ever-present.
Sterner tests will undoubtedly come in the weeks to come. But Finn was pleased with what he saw.
“The first (positive) was our fitness, I thought it was pretty good,” he said.
“They had a lot of guys who were cramping and I don’t know if we had any. We were really happy with where our base is at, but we’ll keep working hard.
“Our stoppages around the ground are something we need to improve on, our zone as well.
“We’ve identified those little things and they’re all new.
“Our forward set ups are new as well. We’ll keep working away at those and the boys are pretty keen to learn and improve.”
He described Joe Kenna’s performance as “pretty outstanding”.
“If our midfielders can hit the scoreboard like they did today and with our key talls up there, we’re going to be pretty difficult to match up on.”
Deakin University was outclassed but, considering its own benchmarks and with a much-changed line-up, far from disgraced.
It was competitive during the 5.5 to 1.3 first quarter, almost breaking even at the clearances and only trailing the inside-50 count 14-10.
But its opponents’ class eventually shone through.
One moment early in the third quarter summed up the contest.
From a kick out, the Sharks moved the ball along the wing to half-forward. The endeavour was evident and the passage was clean.
But they ran out of ideas at half-forward and the Power rebounded with precision. Within 30 seconds, Joe Kenna had kicked a goal.
A trimmed down Ash Johnstone was comfortably their best, particularly at stoppages — and could even factor in the umpires’ votes.
Key forward James Crawford and ruckman Mitch Hodgson were prominent and defender Aiden Bourke was admirable in trying circumstances.
The new crop — Hugh Burns, Jordan Lahy, Harry Young among them — also showed promise.
“I’m just super proud basically,” Sharks coach Dave Atkinson said.
“I’m not surprised (with the result), we knew we were up against it.
“But the effort the guys gave, given it was round one and it was going to be hard anyway, was fantastic.
“The fact they went and went and went and kept going, and didn’t look like holding up, I was really pleased with.”