FLEXING its strength, the Victorian Football League easily accounted for Tasmania in their clash in Hobart on Saturday.
The VFL set up the 20.17 (137) to 4.5 (29) victory with sheer dominance of possession in the opening half.
Bigger bodies were the key for Gary Ayres’ outfit, his premiership-winning midfield from Port Melbourne playing a crucial role in dismantling Tasmania.
Frankston forward Khan Haretuku had three goals at three-quarter-time and fellow Dolphin Kyle Martin had two. Haretuku finished the clash as the dominant forward with four majors and skipper John Baird won the Frank Johnson Medal for best afield.
“It was very impressive,” Ayres said. “They’re just a wonderful bunch to be able to coach.
“It’s a credit to the guys to be able to come together over a very short period of time … We only trained Tuesday and Thursday.”
Tasmania battled hard, with ruckman Jason Laycock and Sam Jones their best.
Ayres said the margin was not a true reflection of Tasmania’s efforts.
“I think they were very competitive in the first quarter but our ability to pick from a very good competition probably showed out in the end.”
The dominance of the Vics was shown by the kick tally of 204 to Tasmania’s 119, while they also dominated the inside 50s with 63 to 29.
Werribee’s Ben Ross was named among the best with 24 possessions and one goal and Tiger teammate Kyle Hartigan had 19 possessions.
Williamstown’s Ben Jolley also had 19 possessions and local teammate Brett Goodes was also in the side.
The VFL resumes on Saturday with Werribee at home to Collingwood and Williamstown taking on Bendigo
