While a sixth-placed regular-season finish for Natimuk United may not have been as high as the club had originally planned, the team should be proud that they were able to secure a finals berth for the fourth year running.
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It came down to the wire between the Rams and the Swifts for that sixth spot, however, their four-point win over an inaccurate Baggies side in round ten ultimately put them ahead.
Looking back on the Rams season as a whole, their ladder position is the perfect representation of where they're at. The side's seven wins came against the six teams below them (they beat Kaniva-Leeor twice) and their five losses came against the five teams above them.
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The Rams dominated most of the teams below them with an average winning margin of just over 40- points from their seven wins; however, from their five losses against the top five teams, they lost on average by 64 points. The closest they came to a top-five side was their 40-point loss to Kalkee in round nine.
This suggests that while the Rams are good enough to make finals, they'll need to do a bit of work if they are to do some real damage in future finals series.
Still, top-six is nothing to sneeze at and the Rams had a bevy of standout on-field performers get them there.
In front of goals, Nathan Koenig was lethal, slotting 45 goals from just 11 games to finish equal second in the competition charts. There was a 31-goal gap between Koenig and the Rams' second highest goalkicker in Nicholas Groves. Spreading the load may be something the side looks to address going into 2022.
Samuel Anson had a great year for the Rams, finishing in the best players seven times from eight games, including four best-on-ground performances for his side.
Young gun Dylan Bates also had a good year with three best-on-ground performances for his side, to go with a handy nine goals.
If the Rams can keep their core together and add a few new fresh faces over the off-season there's no reason as to why they couldn't start to challenge the top teams in 2022.
*The Wimmera Mail-Times contacted Natimuk-United's coach for the review but weren't able to receive comment by deadline.
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Matt Hughes
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
