The form of second-year Essendon players Travis Colyer and Jake Carlisle was the major highlight to come out of the Bendigo Bombers' 76-point loss to the Northern Bullants in the opening round of the VFL last week.
The pair impressed Bendigo coach Shannon Grant, who told essendonfc.com.au that Colyer's work through the midfield and Carlisle's move to defence were positives to come out of the Bombers' 19.11 (125) to 6.13 (49) defeat.
""Travis worked really hard all day. He won a fair bit of the footy, and we're just working on some different areas with him but he's getting better each week,"" Grant said.
""We've tried Jake down back the last two weeks as a centre half-back as part of his development. He's enjoying the role and it's a bit different for him, but obviously in today's footy if you can play at both ends of the ground you can become a pretty valuable weapon.
""He's certainly learning his trade down back and he's shown he's more than capable [in] the last few weeks.""
Though Grant admitted the blowout was a disappointing way to start the season, he said the form of Scott Gumbleton was encouraging in his first major hit-out since the first round of the NAB Cup, while Ricky Dyson provided run from defence.
""Scotty was great. He was probably our most productive forward, he worked hard all day, he presented and took some really good contested marks. He was certainly a focal point up there for us,"" Grant said.
""Ricky hasn't played a lot of footy over the last five or six weeks but he was really good. He played a good role for us early down back, and when we needed a lift and run through the middle he came up and gave us that as well. He played his role on the day,"" he said.
After suggesting the Bullants had ""bullied"" his side around the ball last week, Grant said round two provided an opportunity for Bendigo to bounce back from the loss when it faced North Ballarat, last year's premiers, at 1.10pm on Saturday at Eureka Stadium.
""Last week the Northern Bullants were very strong and I'm sure this week we'll come up against a mature side who have a lot of good players across every line. It's a good test to see where the group is at and I'm really looking forward to seeing where the group is at after the disappointment of last week,"" he said.
Colyer and Carlisle impress for Bendigo
The form of second-year Essendon players Travis Colyer and Jake Carlisle was the major highlight to come out of the Bendigo Bombers' 76-point loss to the Northern Bullants in the opening round of the VFL last week.
