Tara Murray
The Western Crusaders were able to put aside the off field situation to remain undefeated in the Gridiron Victoria men’s competition.
The Crusaders had a big win on Saturday against the Northern Raiders at MacPherson Park, which came after a couple of tough days.
The club’s home ground, Henry Turner Oval in the Footscray Park area, was left flooded after the Maribyrnong River broke its banks last week.
Player and committee member Tyson Garnham said on Sunday they were unsure how bad the damage was.
“We haven’t been able to get into the change rooms,” he said. “The whole club room is flooded and there will be a bit of equipment damaged which is unfortunate.”
On field, the Crusaders carried on their merry ways, beating the Raiders 46-10 on Saturday.
Garnham said they used the experience of their second side, who played the Raiders the previous round.
“It was a good game,” he said. “The second team played them last week, but they couldn’t get the win.
“The first team was able to get some revenge and get the win. We watched a bit of film during the week to help us.”
Garnham said they had been able to get off to a good start, which had been their aim going into the game.
He said they were able to then rotate their side around once the game was in the bag.
“It was a pretty strong start and we were able to get a few scores early on,” he said.
“We started to rotate the players and everyone was able to get some good game time which is what we wanted.
“We always had a good game against them and have a long history, so it’s good to get the win.”
The Crusaders second side was due to face the Bendigo Dragons on Saturday, but the Dragons forfeited giving the Crusaders a 1-0 win.
With the two Crusaders sides to combine later in the season for finals, the two teams took the opportunity to combine on Saturday as well.
Garnham said most of the guys took the opportunity to play in the first team, with everyone getting good field time.
With the top side sitting 3-0 and the second side 2-1, it has been a good start to the season for the Crusaders, who have won the last four titles.
Garnham said there’s still more work to be done.
“We are going well, but there’s still a bit of room for improvement,” he said. “There’s lots of lessons to come out of the game.
“Hopefully we can get to training and work on a few lessons and hopefully fix them up for this week.”
This week the Crusaders top side faces the South Eastern Predators, while the second side faces the Melton Wolves. Both games are at Hendy Street Reserve in Geelong.
