By Brad McGrath
THE Victorian Football League flexed its strength to easily account for Tasmania in their clash in Hobart on Saturday.
The VFL set up the 20.17(137) to 4.5(29) victory with sheer dominance of possession in the opening half.
The bigger bodies of the VFL were a key for Gary Ayres’ outfit, his premiership-winning midfield from Port Melbourne playing a crucial role in dismantling Tasmania.
Towards the end of the third term, a Dean Galea long bomb extended the margin to 67 points. Frankston forward Khan Haretuku had three goals at three-quarter time and fellow Dolphin Kyle Martin had two.
Haretuku finished the clash as the dominant forward with four majors and skipper John Baird was awarded the Frank Johnson Medal for best afield.
“It was very impressive,” Ayres said. “They are just a wonderful bunch to be able to coach. It’s a credit to the guys to be able to come together over a very short period of time. We trained only on Tuesday and Thursday.”
Tasmania battled hard and ruckman Jason Laycock and Sam Jones were its best.
Ayres said the margin was not a true reflection of Tasmania’s efforts. “I think they were very competitive in the first quarter but our ability to pick from a very good competition probably showed out in the end.”
The dominance of the Vics was shown by the kick count of 204 to 119. They also dominated the inside 50s with 63 to 29 and Sam Pleming starred with 19 possessions and 12 marks.
The VFL resumes on Saturday with Frankston to clash with Port Melbourne. Frankston coach Simon Goosey was an assistant to Ayres for the state game.
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