While Harding was obviously pleased his team could overcome a quarter time deficit and pile on eight unanswered goals in the second term, he noted that there was still plenty of room for improvement.
“We didn’t play our best footy, especially early,” Harding told lions.com.au.
“I think our execution going forward could have been a lot better. Our effectiveness inside 50 wasn’t great. Some of our kicks went short of our targets, and others went over their heads.
“We still went inside 50m 62 times, but I think we could have done a lot more.”
One of the players who didn’t seem too affected by the delivery was Aaron Cornelius who bagged a season-high eight goals in a dominant display up forward.
“Aaron had a mixed bag in terms of how he scored his goals which was pleasing,” Harding said.
“He had a good work-rate, led strongly and gave us a target, and even kicked a couple from stoppages. He probably could’ve kicked some more if we’d been more effective and delivered the ball to him better.”
Despite Cornelius’ eight-goal haul, it was Patrick Karnezis who earned best-on-ground honours with another productive display in the centre.
“Patty had 20-odd touches in the first half, a dozen of which came in the first quarter,” Harding said.
“He really got us going early and helped keep us in the game. He won the ball at clearances – I think he finished with seven for the match – had 31 disposals, five inside 50s and kicked two goals.”
The match also signalled the return of Callum Bartlett, who had missed the previous five weeks with a cheekbone fracture.
“Cal got his hands on the ball and was good in and around the stoppages.
“It was a good hitout for him to get a bit of junk out of his system, which is always nice after a bit of a lay-off. Hopefully he gets back to the form he showed before the injury pretty quickly.”
With Simon Black and Brent Staker commanding much of the NEAFL-related news in the past month, little has been said about Jesse O’Brien’s promising return from groin surgery.
O’Brien spent a considerable period of the off-season in rehab, but seems to have finally gotten some continuity in his football with four consecutive reserves games.
“I reckon Jesse’s first three games were very, very good – in particular his work around the ball and tackling,” Harding said.
“He still got 26-odd touches and laid five tackles on the weekend, but I didn’t see that customary breaking out from stoppages. He got most of his possessions in close, so his long running wasn’t as evident.”
