The Grasshoppers continued their trend of starting slow, trailing by 11 points at quarter time and only managing to cut the margin down to 10 by the main break.   

An eight-goal to two second half spurred Navarre on to claim a 12.16.88 to 8.7.55 victory. 

Navarre assistant coach Matt Newton said he is not concerned with the number of slow starts they have had.

“We might need to tinker a bit with what we are doing before the game,” he said.

“It might just be a pregame mindset issue that we need to fix.

“We responded really well in the second half and cut down on the skill errors that did not allow us to put scoreboard pressure on in the first half.”

Newton said that they know the areas of their game they need to work on.

“As a collective group we identified that we were over possessing the ball,” he said.

“Our spread and our run got us back into the game and across the line.”

Cody Driscoll bounced back from an uncharacteristically quiet game against Natte Bealiba the week before, kicking four-goals. 

Cody’s brother Ash had only his second goalless game for the year, the other coming against Lexton.

Louis Hannett kicked three goals as one of the best for the Grasshoppers.

Daniel Parkin kicked a goal in his best-on-ground performance.

“Daniel is a freak,” Newton said.

“He was able to bring the guys in around him and get them involved in the game.”

Newton said he was impressed with the efforts of the whole team.

“We had a few new players to the senior side and they fitted straight in,” he said.

“It was a solid 22 man effort with no passengers.” 

Will Marshman, Brent Flood, Aaron Slorach and Josh Fowkes were also among Navarre’s best players. 

At the halfway mark of the season, Navarre sit in third place, level with Natte Bealiba on points. 

Carisbrook remain undefeated on top of the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football League ladder after round eight.

Navarre’s next chance to take on Carisbrook is in round 15 on August 12.

Navarre will be tested next week against Talbot. 

Talbot only sit ninth on the ladder, but are coming off a solid performance against Natte Bealiba, finishing just five goals down.