Ararat coach Shane Fisher took a back seat for his side's victory on the road over Dimboola at Saturday.
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For the second time in as many seasons, Fisher handed the reins to Toohey Medallist Dan Mendes to coach out the game.
The unorthodox trial did not have an impact on the result, with Ararat coming away with an 11.12 (78) to 9.5 (59) victory over the Roos.
"Dan speaks well, has the respect of our players and has a smart footy brain so it was a good chance for him to get a taste of coaching once again," Fisher said.
"It is important to keep teaching assistant coaches and give different opportunities so we are always learning, improving and getting the best out of ourselves."
A four-goal to one opening term set the tone for the Rats, giving them a lead they did not give back.
Despite just the 19-point final margin, Ararat had control for most of the match, leading by more than five goals leading into the final quarter.
"We dropped away late amd Dimboola put some credit on the scoreline," Fisher said.
"They definitely have a few guys that can really play the game. I think it shows the evenness of the competition that we are second and they are last but they can still compete.
"Jack Ganley was instrumental and Dan Mendes was really solid once again."
Ganley finished with three goals for the game.
Fisher said he noticed things the side will need to work on before next weekend's game against Horsham Saints.
"We had a lot of the footy but turned it over a bit," he said.
"At times our skills inside 60 to goal just weren't great and there were probably a few boys disheartened after the game with their performance.
"You can't be at that top standard every week so we will look into how we can continue to improve. We were also missing a few guys so they will be big to get back into the team."
Despite sitting in two games clear in second spot, another poor finish to Saturday's game was their fifth fourth quarter loss of the year. Fisher said he and others have identified the issue of failing to run matches out.
"We had a good evaluation on Saturday night of where we are at. We noticed the last quarter drop off over the last few weeks so it is something we will take note of," he said.
"We put as much effort and time into this group as we can, as I'm sure other clubs are."
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