Or first halves, for that matter.
But when it comes to a sprint to the finish line, the Murray Bombers have Olympic-like stocks in the tank after half-time, best displayed by Saturday’s pure decimation of Benalla in a 19.22 (136) to 5.5 (35) romp.
The second-half salvo at Benalla Showgrounds was something to behold.
Well, for the travelling fans, at least.
Echuca fired off 14.9 to the Saints’ 1.2 in the third and fourth quarters, stripping away the lacquer on a respectable first-half showing from Benalla that saw it trail by less than three goals at the main break.
In less than an hour of match play, though, the Murray Bombers transformed a lead from 16 points to 101.
So how did they do it?
Echuca led the inside 50 count 38-11 and kicked 87 of its 93 second-half points from entering the arc, claiming 16 marks to Benalla’s one.
The Murray Bombers were also aces in the contested game, handling 80 challenged possessions to the Saints’ 44 throughout the third and fourth quarters for a total 229-136 disposal split.
Echuca was also unstoppable at the stoppage.
Echuca v Benalla - second half numbers
Hit-outs
Echuca: 34
Benalla: 7
Inside 50s
Echuca: 38
Benalla: 11
Contested possessions
Echuca: 80
Benalla: 44
Goals
Echuca: 14
Benalla: 1
Kane Morris’ rule over the ruck battle was evident in the absence of Benalla key tall Mark Marriott, with the visitors winning second half hit-outs 34-7 as Blake Uebergang shouldered the responsibilities in the ex-Cobden Bomber’s absence.
One statistic jumps off the page when referencing the Saints’ inability to score, too.
Benalla turned over the ball less than its opponent (37-45), but in comparison Echuca capitalised from that specific score source 12.4 to the home side’s 1.0.
Clearly, the Saints’ 26.5 per cent scoring efficiency was far removed from that of the Murray Bombers (62.5 per cent) — but who did the damage?
A select set of stars in green put in a superhuman shift going forward after the main break, which was evident in their second-half ranking point totals.
Bullocking forward Liam Tenace led the charge with 105 as he claimed 16 disposals, 11 contested possessions and two goals, while Jack McHale (99 ranking points) tallied 20 touches, eight inside 50s and 11 score involvements.
Surprisingly, the best player after half-time stats-wise was Benalla's playing coach Jarrad Waite.
The ex-AFL spearhead dazzled with 22 disposals, eight rebound 50s and seven intercept possessions to finish with a second-half ranking point total of 108.
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