A GENTLE word in his front-rower's ear had the desired effect for Wauchope coach Anthony Boyd as Kahlan Duncan laid the platform for the Blues in their 36-18 win over Old Bar on Sunday.
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Duncan was outstanding up front as the Blues extended their unbeaten streak to three to start the year at Lank Bain Sporting Complex.
"We know what Kahlan can do when he's playing his best footy (because) he's an asset to our side," Boyd said.
"He's big, mobile, got good feet so when he's playing good footy it definitely helps us out.
"He hasn't been poor, I just knew he had a lot more in him so I told him to simplify his game a little bit.
Duncan bent the Old Bar defensive line time and time again and had them at "sixes and sevens" as Wauchope raced out to a 26-0 lead at the break.
"It was a good first-half performance and we've still got heaps to improve on," Boyd said.
"We're getting the job done and that's the most pleasing part about it even though we're having lapses, we're still good enough to get the wins up."
Duncan's front-row partner Sam Ackroyd also staked a claim for man-of-the-match honours.
"He played huge minutes for us," Boyd said.
"I gave him a big pat on the back and as a front-rower he ended up playing 65 minutes - 40 of which was straight."
The Wauchope coach admitted his team still had room to improve after seeing errors creep into their game after a near-faultless opening 30 minutes.
"It was pretty much over after about 30 minutes," Boyd said.
We're nowhere near playing to our potential yet and we've got a hell of a lot of improvement in us.
- Anthony Boyd
"We got the ascendancy and it's hard in games like that when you have the momentum to keep going, but it's an area we need to improve on as a team.
"We're nowhere near playing to our potential yet and we've got a hell of a lot of improvement in us.
"If we can keep chipping away and improving every week, I'm sure at the end of the year we'll be playing some good footy."
After not featuring prominently in pre-season predictions at the end of the year, Boyd stopped short of suggesting it had played a role in motivating his team.
"I don't really care what other people think; that means nothing to me," he said.
"I read in the paper they had us coming second last or last but it is what it is and you don't do anything good by what people think.
"We don't have the names of other sides because we're pretty much an unknown, but they're all buying in to what we're doing.
"Everyone knows we've got to work hard and we'll end up coming away with some good victories."
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