![Jindera ruckman Thomas Findley was outstanding in the win over Howlong. Picture by Mark Jesser Jindera ruckman Thomas Findley was outstanding in the win over Howlong. Picture by Mark Jesser](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/131362666/978eec0c-0225-4696-8dd2-20cb3e0d68fa.jpg/r1468_395_2146_810_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Thomas Findley produced a huge performance in the ruck as Jindera sent finals-bound Howlong away with their tails between their legs on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Bulldogs played their best football of the season to win by 15.14 (104) to 6.7 (43) at Jindera, where Findley was best on ground in only his sixth game of senior football.
Findley, the former North Albury and Lavington junior, showed exactly why he's so highly-rated with an eye-catching display around the stoppage.
"Tom came in and we really dominated in the ruck," Jindera coach Andrew Wilson said.
"He's been a work in progress, just trying to get him to training and to commit.
"But he's got all the potential and he gave our midfielders first use all day.
"Tommy was one we flagged last year.
"I sat down and had a real good chat to him late last year, prior to him signing on to go this year and said 'mate, it's all in your court, if you put in a big pre-season and do the work, what you want to achieve is totally up to you.'
"Unfortunately, he had a really interrupted time, he was a bit injured, wasn't able to get to pre-season and then with his work, he can struggle to get to training which has made it hard for him to be consistent and get a regular spot in the senior side.
"But his future is huge.
"You don't get blokes that big (very often) and he's nice and mobile and today was definitely the best game he's played for the footy club.
"It was really promising for him.
"He's a quiet young fella but once he realises how much potential he has and is able to commit to training and that sort of stuff - because that's been his biggest challenge - he'll be able to reach that potential."
Trent Castles booted eight goals for the Bulldogs, underlining how much better they were able to kick to the key forward's advantage.
"We haven't been utilising the ball and he was able to get on the end and get the rewards of us using the ball better," Wilson said.
"We've been working on trying to kick to advantage and kick to space and limit our turnovers and that improved out of sight today.
"Our turnover count was a quarter of where we've been for the last month and if you can execute and link up your skills, it gets into your forwards much quicker and you've got more space to work with.
"That came off as well so we were able to link up a few things and the result came from there."
Jindera flew out of the traps, kicking six goals to two in the opening quarter, and they never looked back from there.
They led by 36 points at half-time and pushed that margin out to 55 at the final huddle, having kept Howlong goalless in the third quarter.
"It was good to watch," Wilson smiled.
"We've had a tough month but to see the boys play to their potential was great.
"We didn't change anything, we didn't try to re-invent the wheel or anything like that, we just kept working away at the same things and how we wanted to go about it.
"Unfortunately, it's taken until round 15 for the penny to drop and for it all to come together but it was really pleasing to watch.\
"The main big focus was that we need 21 contributors, we can't have six, we can't have 12, we need 21 and today, honestly, we had 21, which made all the difference."
Defeat has dropped Howlong to fourth, behind CDHBU and now level on points with Rand-Walbundrie-Walla.
Jindera, in seventh, are a game behind Brock-Burrum ahead of their trip to Osborne next weekend.
To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark https://www.bordermail.com.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @bordermail
- Follow us on Instagram @bordermail
- Follow us on Google News