In front of a large home crowd, on a blustery day, Nhill nervously hung on to an eight-point win over Southern Mallee Thunder on Saturday.

The Wimmera league’s round one features three out of four matches with a margin under 10 points, setting up what should be an exciting season ahead.

It was a big day at Nhill’s Davis Park, with the opening of its new grandstand and changerooms, a past players’ day plus the addition of former AFL player Tom Mitchell adding to the atmosphere.

After trailing by two points at quarter time, the Tigers held the Thunder goal-less in the second term to take a five-point lead into half-time.

But with the wind affecting conditions, the home side could not put last year’s grand finalists away in the third quarter – kicking 2.5 – but still taking a handy 15-point lead at the last break.

The Thunder came back in the last quarter, outscoring the Tigers 20-13.

Nhill co-coach Jake McQueen said a strong home crowd might have helped his side over the line in the last term.

“The last 10 minutes, they got a bit of a run on in the end, which was getting a bit nerve-wracking,” he said.

“We had a very big crowd there, which definitely helped us probably kick into another gear and just defend a bit better.

“We were probably the side on the day to win, but Thunder was definitely coming at the end, that’s for sure.”

It was the second time in recent years that Nhill had played a former AFL player against Southern Mallee – with Dale Thomas playing for the Tigers in a famous two-point win in 2022.

Mitchell, a Brownlow medallist when at Hawthorn and Collingwood premiership player, played in the midfield and forward for the Tigers in a one-off appearance.

“He was great – just the leadership he brought and his knowledge about the game. We bounced off him a fair bit at quarter-time and half-time breaks just to get his thoughts and opinions, which definitely helped us  leading into the final quarter,” McQueen said.

“We just had to change the way we were playing a little bit. We were overusing the handball a fair bit. Whereas it was just probably more of a territory game in the end with the conditions, so once we flicked that switch, we started to actually play a bit better footy.

“He only had around 20 disposals, but it was just more so his leadership at stoppages – he was very good at setting everyone up and had a few good ideas that we’ll take into this year.”

SANFL player Lachlan Gill was influential for the Tigers, racking up about 30 disposals off half-back, with ruckman Daniel Batson and Fraser Driscoll also standouts.

McQueen said while Nhill did not capitalise on the scoreboard, with a final score of 6.15, he felt the Tigers had control of most of the game.

“It was pretty head-to-head at the start, just a tight contest. With the conditions, it was a pretty ugly game, so there was a lot of stoppage and long kick down the lines to contests,” he said.

“But I feel like we had a majority of the ball and the stats backs that up as well.”

The Tigers now do not play until May 2, against Minyip-Murtoa, with a bye in round two and then a break for Anzac Day.

For the Thunder, it was a new-look senior side under new coach Jake Bridges, fielding just 10 players from last year’s grand final team.

While former coach Kieran Delahunty and Angus Dewar were cleared back to the club after playing for Drysdale in the Bellarine league over Easter, the Thunder’s best players were Matty Lloyd, Harry McLeod and William Page.

“It was a completely different side to what they had last year, but it was still a good outfit. I’m expecting them to definitely be in finals, so it’s always nice to get an early win,” McQueen said.

In another tight match, Horsham Demons scored an 86-84 win over Minyip-Murtoa at city oval, as former Essendon player Ben Hobbs returned to his junior club on a permit from VFL club Port Melbourne.

The Burras started strong in the first term, but the Demons kicked six goals in the second quarter to snatch an eight-point lead at the main break.

The visitors made use of the scoring end in the third term to take back the lead, but it was an arm wrestle in the fourth, where the home side was able to claw its way in front to take a first-up win for new coach Jake Short.

Tyler Blake was instrumental for the Demons, while the Burras were well-led by Oscar Gawith who booted four goals.

Meanwhile, Horsham Saints scored a strong 43-point win over Warrack Eagles at Coughlin Park.

Jacob O’Beirne and recruits Nathan Davey, from Ouyen, and Will Brennan, North Warrnambool, were judged best for the Saints.

The Saints now have this weekend off in preparation for its round two match against Horsham Demons on Anzac Day.

This Saturday, Warrack Eagles take on Stawell, the Thunder hosts Minyip-Murtoa at Hopetoun, and Ararat will play Dimboola.

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