The Ararat Rats have started the Wimmera Football League season in the best possible way with a dominant 83-point win against Stawell at Alexandra Oval on Friday.
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The Rats had 27 scoring shots to 11, with the ball spending much of the game in Ararat’s forward half.
Stawell were without Jack Anthony and Sean Mantell for the game with the Rats boosted by former St Kilda player Leigh Montagna taking to the field.
The home team got off to a quick start, scoring five goals in the opening term with the Warriors having no answers for the Rats’ quick ball movement early in the game.
Cooper Heard and Ben Free each finished with three goals for the Rats while David Andrivon was the Warriors’ best forward, kicking three majors also.
The 12-goal first half set up the win for Ararat with coach Shane Fisher pleased with the effort across the four quarters.
He said he was confident the team was ready, with the win validating all the work done during the offseason in front of a big crowd on its home ground.
“It is rewarding to get through the preseason and get a victory in the first game,” he said
“I think we averaged 65 points a game last year which is a bit light on for senior football, so that was definitely a focus for us.
“It doesn’t matter how many goals you kick, you also have to stop them scoring as well.
“So our defensive efforts were very pleasing.”
Fisher said the attacking ball movement was a catalyst for the win and hopes the team takes confidence out of the performance.
“I have said I want our team to take risks, at one stage I counted 16 times where we took a big risk and 12 of those came off,” he said.
“Sometimes those 12 times won’t come off but I will encourage the guys to keep taking the game on.”
The win was a sign of an improved Rats team but they will not be getting ahead of themselves.
“We are not at all going to get carried away, we know we need to earn the respect of the league and hopefully this helps us start doing that,” Fisher said.
The Warriors lacked some key players for the match but coach Colin Macaffer said it was a good learning experience for the team.
“Some of the players I wasn’t sure if they could play in the positions I asked them to,” he said.
“They did it without hesitation and they will learn from the game.”
The new Warriors coach said the style of play did not translate to the big Ararat ground.
“Probably our game plan was not really set up for the size of this ground either,” he said.
New recruit Jake Williamson was named the Rats’ best while Jackson Dark was best on ground for the Warriors.
