The Rebels fell 10.8 (68) to 13. 7 (85) against Sandringham in round 12, with the undermanned NAB League outfit's lacklustre second quarter (1.2 to 4.1) despite kicking with the breeze proving costly.

"To be able to perform like they did against a relatively strong Sandringham, I thought our boys on the day as a whole were pretty good," Loader said.

"We made a lot of simple mistakes early on.

"But the way we fought back in the second half and finished the game, if we went another 10 minutes it might have been a different result."

Hamilton's Vincent Huf amassed 21 disposals and seven marks in the defeat, while South Warrnambool's Luamon Lual (20 disposals, seven marks) shone in defence.

"Vincent was solid and is coming off a really interrupted preparation," Loader said. "It's probably not allowed him to reach the heights he might have with time.

"And Luamon was super again, we were rapt with the way he went about things. He's going to be a really good player and we're loving working with him."

Koroit's Connor Byrne, 17, impressed on debut, finishing with eight disposals and a goal.

"Really exciting, he did some nice things," Loader said. "I thought he held his own pretty well."

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