The midfielder wasn't far off eclipsing his 2018 season tally of 13 majors after he spent the second half as a resting forward. 

Dennington squandered its early dominance, kicking 2.5 in the first term to lead by just four points at quarter-time before South Rovers took control in the last quarter to march out 18.10 (118) to 7.10 (52) winners.

Lions coach Adam Matheson said the runaway victory was built on cleaning up forward 50 entries and increasing pressure.

"It was a bit of a sloppy game in the first half, which is fair enough for the first hit out," he said .

"We put a fair bit of pressure on ourselves and to Dennington's credit, they were really hard at it.

"The midfield battle was good - they were getting clearances early and putting our back-line under pressure. But once we got reward for inside-50s, the game turned for us."

Matheson said the Lions need to work on maintaining possession and staying calm under pressure.

But he was pleased with strong performances from new players in Aaron Seabrook, Eamon Dowd, Matt Farmer, Ben Fary and Luke Ryan.

Matheson also highlighted first-gamer Sam Hodgins, who stepped up from playing under 17.5s last season.

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