Sometimes, you need someone to stand up and lead the way, and it’s easy to follow a big fella.

Myrtleford ruckman Riley Smith produced one of the more damaging games of his time at McNamara Reserve, helping the Saints to an 18.12 (120) to 6.9 (45) win over Corowa-Rutherglen on Saturday at home.

Smith was the highest-rated player on the ground, finishing with 26 disposals, 11 marks (two contested), eight inside 50s, and three goals.

The Saints looked off early, fumbling and failing to capitalise on their inside 50s, while Corowa marked well and kicked cleanly, with Myrtleford trailing by three goals at quarter time.

After some frank discussions at the huddle, the Saints came out and dominated for the rest of the game, conceding just two goals through the next three quarters while banging on 17 of their own in the same time span.

Senior coach Craig Millar said cleaning up their entries inside 50 and making the most of the amount of ball they were winning came into form after the first break.

“We had a good conversation at quarter time about where we were at and what we weren’t doing right and what we were doing right, and we were fortunate enough to be able to turn it around and start to cash in on some of our inside 50s,” he said.

“In the end it was 55 inside 50s to 23, so we had a lot of looks inside and once we got going on that we were able to cash in and get some scoreboard pressure which was satisfying.

“I thought our defence was super.

“When we reflect back on the first quarter, a lot of that came from a lack of midfield pressure and our forwards not doing their bit early in the game – once that got going, the forwards were able to help the midfield and the midfield were able to held out our back six or seven.

“Our team defence was great, I think they kicked the last goal of the game, so we effectively kept them to one or two goals from quarter time, which was a great defensive effort from our team.”

In the absence of fellow ruck Toby Cossor, who joined Peel Thunder in Western Australia at the end of last season, Millar said Smith was coming into his own as one of the premier rucks in the competition, and teased he was capable of more.

“He’s such a versatile player, you could just about play him in any position on the ground,” Millar said.

“He’s such an important player for us in the front half of the ground, but his centre bounce work and general rucking around the ground has been a real asset for us.

“He trains hard, he’s got an appetite to continue to get better, and is in some really good form at the moment - fingers crossed he can maintain that.

“He’s got a lot of upsides to his game, and the scary thing is he’s got a lot more he can improve – he’s only 25, he hasn’t really hit the peak of his powers as a ruckman.”

It was a special occasion for Jake Riley, who made his senior debut for the Saints and performed well, while Matt Munro, Ashton McPherson, and Mitch Dalbosco were at their influential best.

The Saints sit third overall on the ladder heading into the interleague bye, with a 5-1 record and healthy percentage of 139.79.

Their next match is slated to be at Bunton Park on Saturday 30 May, taking on a North Albury outfit desperate for some form.

In other results from the weekend, Myrtleford’s reserves claimed a massive 127-point win, 23.17 (155) to 4.4 (28), while the thirds won their first match for the season, 5.9 (39) to 4.10 (33).

OAK FM Votes: Round 6

Myrtleford vs Corowa-Rutherglen: 5 R. Smith (Myrt), 4 M. Munro (Myrt), 3 T. Forrest (C-R), 2 N. Ferguson (Myrt), 1 A. McPherson (Myrt).

Leaderboard: R. Smith (Myrt) 21, J. Gaynor (Alb) 15, W. Wheeler (Yarra) / C. Barrett (Wang) 14.