Shepparton co-coach Jason Wells helped to oversee an eye-catching win over Seymour
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Megan Fisher
Shepparton co-coach Jason Wells has reflected on a bright start to his Bears tenure after helping to guide the side to an unbeaten start to its Goulburn Valley League campaign.
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Last term, the Deakin Reserve outfit finished in sixth place in the regular season, before falling to a 22-point defeat against Mansfield in the elimination final.
Installed to work alongside Xavier Stevenson – who has been the Bears’ senior co-coach for three years, Wells boasts a strong CV having formed part of the Murray Bushrangers program for the past six years as assistant coach.
A highly-credentialed level three coach, he served as an assistant coach for the Vic Country under-16, 17 and 19 teams in the past, providing him with a wealth of experience to call upon when assuming the Shepparton hot seat.
Now, Wells has opened up on how his first weeks have transpired following back-to-back victories in front of a home crowd in the infancy of the campaign.
In the season opener, the Bears put neighbour Shepparton United to the sword with a comprehensive 98-34 victory, before following it up with another emphatic win against Seymour – which they defeated 92-52.
“They got it back on their terms a bit for third-quarter time and knowing that they had the breeze to finish with,” Wells said, giving his verdict on how his side fared up against the Lions in their most recent outing.
“Once we got things back under our control, we knew we could use that impetus, we thought we could play pretty well.
“We had 18 inside 50s last week in the last quarter (versus Shepparton United), so we knew we could run the game out – it’s a credit to the boys, they’re all enjoying themselves so far.
“We’re very lucky, we’ve got a list of about 55, with seven or eight injured, that are putting the pressure on and pushing for senior selection.
“The club environment has so many families involved and it makes it an easy place for people to want to be.”
Jason Wells boasts an enviable CV following decades of experience as a player and coach.
Having played the game for three decades from under-13 level right through to senior football, Wells is perfectly placed to size up the contributions of new signing Kade O’Dwyer, who put in a player of the match display versus Seymour.
The fresh recruit had 100 Murray Football League senior games under his belt – representing Numurkah and the Murray Bushrangers prior to his switch to Shepparton and he demonstrated his talents with three goals against the Lions last time out.
“I think last week it took him a while to get used to the tempo of GV footy,” Wells said of the progress of the former Murray Football League Rising Star award winner.
“He’s really started to settle in and understanding the vision of what we go through in the week and his role.
“He was a lot better today, we knew it would take time, but he’s a really important player to us around that midfield structure.”
As for the performance of Luke Smith, who got his side off to a flyer with three goals in the first quarter, Wells was impressed with his finishing in the opening stages versus Seymour.
“Luke’s played really well against Seymour the last couple of times, kicking seven and six – he was super important early on.
“We had the breeze and needed to capitalise and he’s such a great finisher, to have him in front of the footy and not have to play on the ball a lot was really important.”
With a first trip on the road of the campaign to come this weekend, Wells confirmed that he was looking forward to the challenge posed by Mooroopna – especially with the Cats coming in off the back of a 70-point demolition job over Tatura.
“They were good last week, getting the two Betson boys back and then there’s the Swans the week after – by all accounts they’ve had a great win today.
“They’re a very similar side to us and love to run, so we’ve got a got a tough couple of weeks coming up and no game is easy this year – the comp is very even – so getting the wins in early certainly helps.”
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