News

North Ballarat had more of the football than Werribee and yet was still crushed by 100 points.

That is the way it happened for the Selkirk Roosters in their forgettable Victorian Football League round five assignment on Sunday.

For coach Gerard FitzGerald, this statistic added to an already frustrating outcome as North Ballarat slipped to two wins and three losses.

But it should make the problems which led to the hiding easier to fix.

Well, in theory anyway.

Efficiency is always a focus for FitzGerald and this is where the Roosters must pick-up against Port Melbourne at Port Melbourne today.

The Borough made the bold decision last year to go it alone in the VFL after short-lived alignments with Sydney Swans and the Kangaroos.

They had a struggle, but a hectic recruiting campaign has turned their fortunes around this season.

Although it is early days Port Melbourne is in the top three with three wins - one more than North Ballarat after heavy defeats at the hands of Geelong and Port Melbourne.

The Roosters desperately need to climb out of this hole and get back to the type of form which saw them run over Tasmania.

FitzGerald last night named Ayden George for his first senior game for the year as part of this process.

George joins Aaron Clark and Stevie Dinnell as inclusions to cover the losses of Daniel McConnell (to the Kangaroos), David Trotter (hamstring) and Justin Hardy (suspended by club for disciplinary

reasons).

George finally established himself as a regular senior player mid-season last year to play 13 games uninterrupted.

He made an important contribution in getting the Roosters into the finals.

Like Clark, George has had to fight hard to get back in favour and now that he is there will be eager to make the most of the opportunity.

The improvement North Ballarat needs has to start down back where Ed Lower and Matt Riggio must provide more solid support for Shaune Moloney.

Kasey Green will be another out to lift and make a sizeable contribution.

He is one of the more experienced North Ballarat players with an important leadership role to play.

Port Melbourne has an array of AFL-experienced players, including John Baird (Kangaroos), David Spriggs (Geelong and Sydney), Luke Livingston (Carlton) and Brayden Shaw (Collingwood), as well

as much-travelled Liston Trophy winner David Robbins.

And the mix the Borough has put together is working.

But this is a game the Roosters want badly.

A return to winning form would have them sitting on three wins after six rounds - a sound base to work from.