Quarter-by-quarter: Analysing where your Hampden league club performs best, worst

KOROIT, South Warrnambool and North Warrnambool Eagles are the obvious Hampden league standouts.

Portland is an up-and-coming side, Camperdown could beat any outfit on its day and Warrnambool, Cobden and even Hamilton Kangaroos pose danger to the top five.

Terang Mortlake and Port Fairy are rebuilding but boast enough top-end talent to cause any rival headaches.

Those statements are nothing new or groundbreaking - the ladder demonstrates that. But delve a little bit deeper into results and trends will emerge.

Portland, the surprise packet of the competition, is a fascinating case study.

The Tigers have won just two first-quarters, seven second-quarters, three third-quarters and seven fourth quarters.

Portland coach Jarrod Holt said his side was determined to improve its starts but said simple things like kicking against the wind first-up in several matches had also played a part.

"It's probably a bit of both. We can definitely improve our starts. I'm not sure what reason it is, but I was talking to someone about it this week, about maybe changing up things pre-game," Holt said.

"We want to see if we can try to get off to a better start, rather than chasing and being behind. It'd be good to get a good start, put a bit of pressure on the opposition early.

"We've got a couple of things in mind (warm-ups) we're looking change up and whether that helps or not, I'm not sure."

Holt said he had an inkling Portland had performed well in final terms but wasn't aware of the exact figures.

"I think what seems to be happening a lot, which might correlate with that, we seem to be kicking against the wind advantage in the first quarter," he said.

"That's seemed to have happened a fair few times. Other than that, we're not sure why we've started like that and had good second and final quarters.

"We're pretty young and fit but it's been an advantage for us to finish well. It's got us over the line a couple of times in games.

"It's been really handy and to be able to do that early in the year gives the boys confidence to know we're within touch at three quarter-time or in a tight game there's confidence to know we should be able to overrun our opponents."

On the other hand, Gerard FitzGerald's Hamilton Kangaroos typically burst out of the blocks. They've won four first quarters in 2021, but claimed just two second, third and fourth term victories.

Even if they aren't winning at the first change, they're usually within reach, evidenced when they trailed North Warrnambool Eagles by just four points at quarter time this past Saturday.

Terang Mortlake, Port Fairy, Cobden and Camperdown are among their first-quarter scalps.

Their tendency to start well has not been lost on opposition. Koroit coach Chris McLaren, the mastermind of three Hampden league premierships to date, said the Saints spoke about a need to match the Kangaroos' intensity early when the two sides met at Melville Oval in round eight.

FitzGerald said his leaders - captain Hamish Waldron, Brady Hicks and Jack Hickey - had set the tone and assumed responsibility for the team's preparation.

"It's something I've handed over to the leaders as I think it's best-served when the leaders invest in what I call the dynamics of the team," he said.

"One of the dynamics is preparation and the mental preparation to play and I've been very impressed with Hamish as a captain and leader.

"I think Brady and Jack are also having a good influence and supporting Hamish very well."

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FitzGerald said the ability to warm up on the ground was one of the Hampden league's best features. He said the Kangaroos had made the most of this in their preparation.

The three-time VFL premiership coach said his side's fast starts reinforced the fact his side was making progress.

"There's plenty of games left, there's plenty of quarters remaining. We know there will be a minimum of seven games and there could be up to nine and so there's a lot of opportunities to continue to get better," FitzGerald said.

Terang Mortlake, one of the Hampden league's youngest teams, has endured an up-and-down season but is another which has claimed four first-quarter triumphs. It could be argued that's an impressive return for a side in ninth place at two overall wins and seven losses.

Cobden's first quarters are also usually its best patch. Adam Courtney's team have saluted five times in the first stanza and drawn once. It means just three first quarters have gone begging for the Bombers so far in 2021.

"We've definitely been starting really well and even if we have been behind, it's been just," Courtney said.

"We've had a tendency over the first four rounds where our second and last quarters were pretty ordinary. We've been working on fitness and trying to get as much of that into the boys as possible so we are running out games a little bit better.

"We found those sides we played early in the season were up and about and running out games better than we were and we feel like we've improved there.

"But we have been pretty focused on our starts. We've been pretty switched on before the game. The boys have a nice routine they do and it seems to be paying off."

Courtney's gut feeling was right. Cobden's three final quarter victories for the season have come in the past three weeks of play, after the league's coronavirus lockdown-enforced spell in late May.

He said an honest review into planning and training after heavy defeats to Port Fairy and Hamilton Kangaroos - which left his side languishing at zero and five - laid the foundations for the Bombers' revival.

Courtney's side has entered the league-wide July bye just two wins outside the top five.

"Both of those games we thought we thought we were a big chance to win and we were pretty ordinary," he said.

"We had to have a look and reassess across the board. As a coaching staff we knew we had to get better at planning, training methods and all that sort of stuff.

"We just had to try to be positive around the club at zero and five. That's something which has really helped out. The personnel in the side comes into it once again. We've had more senior players in there and it hasn't put as much pressure on players their eighth to 10^th game.

"We still have two or three of them in there but in those games, we had five or six. We didn't have the experience in there and now we do it just makes a massive difference."

Courtney said Cobden's consistent ability to start well was a mix of a good mental state and a warm-up which worked for his players.

"We try not to over-talk the game," he said.

"It's all about the basic points and then they go into their certain lines and talk about what they'd like to add to the team from their role.

"We try to get out a bit of body touch and get our skills going as quick as possible. I think one of the main things this year has been the focus of the players.

"Probably in 2019, they were a little bit scattered and mucking around a bit before the game. This year, I can't fault them on that part. They're really focused.

"They want to win. They don't want to go out there and lose, so they are focused on the job at hand."

Camperdown, meanwhile, has finished games better than any other quarter in 2021. It has saluted in four first quarters, five second quarters, five third quarters and six final terms.

Magpies mentor Neville Swayn said "I knew we hadn't lost many (final terms)".

"I think fitness is a big part of it. There's a growing belief that we can finish games off too. Fitness is a lot of it, but the mental side of it too about believing we can finish it is a major factor as well," he said.

"We're probably aware we do finish games well and it's something we do take a lot of confidence out of, if we're behind, we always have that belief."

Swayn said consistent efforts across all four quarters - their final term win aggregate of six was just two more than their lowest aggregate of four first quarters - was pleasing.

"If we'd had this discussion a fortnight ago we'd only have won two first quarters," he said.

"We identified we weren't starting really well. We were having to come from behind, which is not ideal. You can't get away with it every time.

"The first quarters was something we identified a couple of weeks ago and the last two weeks, we've won those. It's something we look, absolutely, because you want to be more consistent right across it.

Koroit has won eight third and fourth quarters in 2021 on the back of a more offensive approach to footy. Their premiership rivals, South Warrnambool and North Warrnambool Eagles, have both won seven third terms and five and seven fourth quarters respectively.

The Saints have also been in front six times at the first change and seven at the main break.

Bottom-placed Port Fairy has won just two first terms but has enjoyed its most success in the second quarter, winning three. It has two third change victories to its name and is yet to salute in a final quarter.

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