Wangaratta Rovers head into their ANZAC Day bye weekend with a perfect 3-0 record after dusting Corowa-Rutherglen by 40 points in their first home fixture of the season.

After a damaging first half, the Rovers maintained the pressure to run out winners 19.10 (124) to the Roos 13.6 (84).

A two-goal lead at quarter time blew out to 31 by the half, with Rovers’ ball winners providing plenty of run through the middle, and their forwards rarely missed.

The Rovers’ defence kept Corowa to just four scoring shots through the second term, while the home side booted 6.2 in the same time to shoot out in front.

The Hawks could’ve put the game beyond a shadow of a doubt in the third quarter, but inefficiency inside their forward 50 saw seven behinds kicked with only two majors slotted.

A six goal to four final term from the Rovers saw them come away with the four points.

Coach Sam Murray said while they weren’t able to have the game completely on their terms for the full four quarters, it was a strong performance across the park.

“They’re a side who want to get the ball in motion and play a high-transition game, they want to turn you over and be able to rebound you the other way, so when we were able to slow the game up and play some possession football, I thought the game was in our favour,” he said.

“At times, the ball got in motion too frequently and allowed them to counterpunch us a little bit.

“Overall, it’s been a while since we’ve kicked 120 points [138pts vs Albury in round two, 2025] so I thought our offensive game was really strong, especially with Ed Dayman and Nathan Cooper out who bring a fair bit to that structurally and from a personnel perspective.

“We’re in a fortunate position where we’ve got some real depth in our list with Tristan Lenaz coming in and Oscar Clelland coming in, and they offered a lot.

“We’ve obviously played from the first day to the last day for the last two years and are hoping to do that again this year, so it’s important to manage our players and make sure they’re fresh and feeling good come the later end of the season.

“We thought the game was in control, there weren’t times it was getting away from us, but we just allowed them to put two or three on, which we want to continue to minimise and we’ve got some ideas around that.”

Full credit goes to the Hawks’ back six, who were able to keep star Corowa forward Kaelan Bradtke goalless, with defender Jace McQuade named best on ground for the Rovers.

Mitch Hardie finished with four goals, Brodie Filo bagged three, while Lenaz, Alex McCarthy and Dylan Wilson kicked two each.

“It was a team effort, we identified KB [Kaelan Bradtke] as a really dangerous threat for them up forward, there’s no doubt he’s been the premier forward in the league for the past couple of years now,” Murray said.

“We put some time into him to make sure we limited his supply, and that started with our midfield.

“Kieren Parnell and Charles Ledger played really selfless games in their ability to drop off their opponents and block the leading lanes, so it wasn’t Jace by himself, but in the moments Jace had KB and had to win one-on-one, he did a great job of that.

“We like to think most of these plans and more defensive actions come from a team-first mentality, and I thought we did really well on Saturday.”

The Hawks sit second on the ladder with a flawless win-loss record, with their next match slated for 2 May against Wodonga Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, the Magpies maintained their winning ways by holding off the Tigers for an 8.16 (64) to 6.17 (53) win at Albury Sports Ground.

Wangaratta held a 29-point lead at the half, but a dominant third term from Albury saw the Tigers work back into the contest at trail by three at the final break, only behind on the scoreboard due to inaccuracies in front of the big sticks.

The Magpies responded in the fourth, upping their pressure across the ground and booting two late goals to secure the 11-point result.

Cam Barrett was immense in defence, earning best on ground, with Mathew Grossman, Jett Roberts, and Jackson Clarke (three goals) also among the top performers for the black and white.

The once-touted Tigers are now under immense pressure, winless from their first three games.

The Magpies are fourth on the ladder, and will also take the ANZAC Day weekend off with the bye.