""We fell asleep a little bit in the third term and Port Melbourne worked back into the game,"" Bendigo coach Peter Banfield said. ""We were eight points down at three quarter time and then we had our chances in the last quarter. If we kicked straight there is no doubt we would have won the game, so it was a missed opportunity for us,"" he said.
Bendigo’s prospect weren’t helped when the team lost veteran Mark Mercuri in the second quarter. Mercuri hurt his knee and was taken immediately from the ground and spent the second half on the bench. ""That is probably one of the reasons why Port got back into the game. It unbalanced us and helped them get back into the game,"" Banfield said.
The extent of damage to Mercuri’s knee is still being assessed. At this stage it is unknown how long he will be sidelined. Young ruckman Tristan Cartledge was also taken from the field in the second term after rolling his ankle. Essendon football manager Dominic Cato confirmed that Cartledge’s injury is not serious and he will definitely be available for selection this week.
After being omitted from the senior team that went to Adelaide, Jobe Watson gave the match committee something to think about after his performance against Port Melbourne. Watson topped the possession tally with his 31 disposals and also kicked one goal.
""Jobe worked his backside off for the game. Was very strong over the ball and won a lot of possessions. He gave us a lot of drive and will definitely come up for consideration,"" Banfield said.
According to Banfield, Ted Richard was another player to increase his senior selection prospects. ""Teddy Richards played really well and worked hard playing centre half forward. He gave us a lot of drive in the forwardline,"" he said.
Kepler Bradley had a hectic weekend. He flew to Adelaide as emergency for Friday night’s clash and then returned to Melbourne first thing Saturday morning and was straight in the car to Bendigo for the VFL game. The 18-year-old showed no signs of travel tiredness with his three goals.
""Kepler was a strong contributor and his performance in light of those travel details was tremendous,"" Banfield said. Bradley has been consistently solid for Bendigo this season and Banfield believes a senior berth is not far away for the youngster. ""He (Bradley) has fantastic athleticism and he wins a lot of the ball around the ground. He will come under consideration for a senior game.""
Aaron Henneman returned to the VFL after two games sidelined with a hip injury. Henneman was solid across half back and benefit from having played the game of footy.
Bendigo Bomber statistics:
J.Watson – 31
N.Carter – 21
J. Doering – 21
A.Wilson – 20
M.Alvey – 19
J.Nash – 18
T.Richards – 16
J.Winderlich – 14
S.Hunt – 13
R.Dyson – 13
B.Stanton – 12
G.Moorcroft – 10
J.Davies – 8
K.Bradley – 8
J.Laycock – 8
M.Mercuri – 8
P.Summers – 7
A.Lovett – 7
A. Henneman – 7
G. Campbell – 4
T. Cartledge – 4
D. Walsh - 3
