If there is a bigger cliche in football than "playing good footy at the right time of year" it would be hard to find, but Tatura is doing its best to make that worn saying a reality.
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In seeing off a lifeless Euroa by 39 points, the Bulldogs made it back-to-back wins and almost certainly locked in a place in finals, barring any unforeseen drama next round.
Early, the Magpies looked as if they wanted to make their last home game of the season a memorable one, counter-punching the Bulldogs' territorial dominance to lead late in the first before a Nick Fothergill major gave his side a four-point quarter-time break.
But from there, a hungry Tatura outfit began to feast, with excruciating forward-half pressure tearing apart any Euroa fluidity and while the Bulldogs only found two majors to show for their dominance through Brad Ryan and Jake Rennie, the Magpies were under fire.
A poor Jimmy Ivill turnover handed James Sullivan an easy goal to start the third quarter and the Bulldogs felt close, that major completing a 12 scoring shots to one run that had them turn a four-point deficit into a 27-point lead.
What the Bulldogs lacked in finishing in the first half, they well and truly made up for in the third; Morrie Serra showed class well beyond his teenage years with a silky snap from the pocket, before a searing Matt Shannon run also ended with a major.
Euroa had some answers, primarily through Jett Trotter who slotted five goals in a strong outing, but the Bulldogs kept coming, with Shannon again goaling on the run before on-fire Ryan kicked his third and fourth goals late in the third to break the Magpie resistance.
Such was the beating Tatura had put on, even a magical dribbled goal from an impossible angle from Jarmyn Tremellen early in the last fell flat, as the Bulldogs galloped home to the strong win.
Speaking outside a buoyant visitors rooms - and just after the seniors had sung the club song with the A-grade netballers - coach Jamason Daniels was thrilled his side had done what it needed to.
"We know the situation we're in, next week, depending on win or lose, we've got the percentage on Benalla and Rochy," he said.
"We've got some good momentum now and we're playing some attractive footy, and the footy we've been looking for, at the right time of year.
"Our fitness is starting to show through, but also our pressure, we just hunted in packs. I think Euroa found it really hard to get out of our forward half today due to our pressure.
"We've just got some guys who are happy to play their role and do what they need to do, and it's just team-first footy."
While Shannon's run, Mitch Elliott's ball accumulation and Brandyn Grenfell's ruckwork all were impressive, Ryan's command of the entire forward 50 was the game's biggest factor.Â
An elite backman, Ryan racked up the ball inside 50 and could have finished with many more than four goals, pushing the double-digit mark for scoring shots and marking with serious presence.
"I've probably put it on a few backmen, because it was after the week Braydon Sutton went down that we thought we'd (move Ryan forward)," Daniels said.
"They've been our best two key defenders all year. But Sean Martin and Colby McDonald have been huge, they've really stepped up to the plate, and shut people down.
"(Ryan) is a natural footballer and he's played on the best forwards in the league, so he knows what to do."
Daniels congratulated the club's under-18s, who began the trip to Memorial Oval with their first win of the season that morning.