'It's a different mentality now being the hunted': Mounts coach Cam Carter

It's one of the region's great traditional rivals that not only stretches over a century, but has been filled with plenty of big games against each other at the pointy end of the season.

Dating back to 1995 (when the Addy's Heathcote District league head-to-head records start) no two HDFNL clubs have played each other more than the 69 times Mount Pleasant and Colbinabbin have faced off.

For the record, the ledger is 40-29 in favour of Colbinabbin through those 69 meetings dating back to 1995, which includes 10 finals.

In fact, across the Heathcote District, Bendigo and Loddon Valley leagues, only Mitiamo and Calivil United (72 times) have met more than the 69 between Colbinabbin and Mount Pleasant since 1995.

The great BFNL rivals, Golden Square and Sandhurst, have also played 69 times against each other since 1995.

While the Grasshoppers and Blues have played in plenty more bigger games with far greater stakes against each other over the years than what they will on Saturday, this meeting at Toolleen is a pivotal one as the lay of the land in the HDFNL starts to take shape.

For Mount Pleasant, the Blues' premiership defence has got off to a shaky start.

There was always going to be some adjustment required given the losses of the star trio of Adam Baird (midfield), Ben Weightman (forward) and Will Wallace (defence), as well as the acclimation to a new coach with Cameron Carter taking the helm.

Four games into the season the Blues are 1-3 and in seventh position on the ladder above only Huntly and Elmore.

The biggest cause for concern for the Blues has been their well-documented lapses in quarters which have ultimately proved a telling difference in all three of their losses so far to Heathcote, White Hills and Lockington-Bamawm United.

In round one against Heathcote in the grand final rematch the Blues were outscored by 23 points (25-48) in the third quarter in a game they lost by 32 points (79-111).

The following week under lights against White Hills the Blues were again outscored by 23 points (7-30) in the third quarter in a game they lost by 31 points (56-87).

And last week against the Cats they were outscored in the second quarter by 36 points (8-44) in a game they lost by 36 points (52-88).

There's also a 104-point win over Huntly in round three that has ensured the Blues' percentage is above 100 (101.5) despite their 1-3 record, but it's those 30-minute lapses in the games Mount Pleasant has dropped that is a source of frustration for coach Carter.

"It is probably a combination of a few things, but there's obviously three games where we've come out of a break and just haven't been switched on and let an opposition control the game," Carter said on Friday.

"I suppose there's a bit that is on top (mentally) and work-rate as well, but it's the whole group that is responsible whether it's the coaches on the sidelines or you're playing forward, back or mid... we're all responsible for making sure it doesn't happen and then if those lapses are happening what are we doing to change it around.

"That's the way I've been looking at it and how do we get better."

While the Blues did lose some of their high-end talent from last year, the bulk of the premiership group remains intact.

So is there an element of a premiership hangover early in 2024 at Toolleen after what was a historic feat last year when the Blues became the first HDFNL team to win the flag from the elimination final?

"Potentially... if you're five per cent off you can be a long way off in this competition and I think there's a little bit of that," Carter said.

"Last year Mount Pleasant was hunting the good sides, now we're the hunted and I've spoken about it with the guys that it's a different mentality being the hunted.

"It's very difficult to be a good player in a good team because the expectation is you play well for every minute of every game every week as opposed to being allowed to float through a bit.

"And opposition teams are putting more time into players now. Adam Baird, Ben Weightman and Will Wallace are no longer there for teams to put the time into, so all of a sudden that time now gets put into that next rung of players.

"Those guys were great players for a long period of time because they could get it done week after week and that's where we've got to get our group to.

"It's a really good coaching challenge and one I'm happy to sink my teeth into."

As the HDFNL enters round six it's a competition that has a top tier of sides headed by the unbeaten North Bendigo followed by White Hills and Heathcote, with those three teams a combined 12-2.

Elmore in its 150^th anniversary season is struggling at 0-4, but from positions four to eight - Colbinabbin (2-3), Leitchville-Gunbower (2-2), LBU (2-3), Mount Pleasant (1-3) and Huntly (1-3) - there is a sense that any of those sides on any given day could beat each other.

Take the trio of Mount Pleasant, Huntly and LBU for example over the past three weeks.

In round three Mount Pleasant demolished Huntly by 104 points.

The following week Huntly bounced back to defeat LBU by 34 points.

And then last week LBU upstaged Mount Pleasant by 36 points.

It's a formline of results that certainly don't make sense, but it's that unpredictability that will, hopefully, make for an intriguing battle for the last two spots in the HDFNL finals behind the trio of the Bulldogs, Demons and Saints.

And that's why Saturday's Mount Pleasant-Colbinabbin clash at Toolleen is pivotal for both clubs - an old fashioned "eight-point" game featuring two teams in that middle tier.

By 5pm Saturday the Grasshoppers will have either created a two-game buffer on the Blues and built some momentum with two wins in a row to be square at 3-3, or the Blues might have just found the four-quarter mojo they are seeking and potentially climbed over the top of the Grasshoppers, Leitchville-Gunbower (v Heathcote) and LBU (bye) and moved from seventh to fourth.

The Blues side will include a pair of fresh faces in two debutantes each with strong family links to the Blues, with Callum Craig and Will Bowles to play their first senior games.

Craig is the son of Mount Pleasant premiership coach and club legend John Craig, while Bowles' father, Daniel, played in the Mount Pleasant premiership teams coached by Carter in 2005 and 2006.

"It's really exciting for the club to have a couple of debutantes. Both have great pedigrees in terms of their family connection to the club," Carter said.

"It's always a big game against Colbo; it's one of the oldest rivalries in football around here.

"There's a lot of respect between the two clubs for each other, so it's a healthy rivalry with farms very close together, but it's just a game we've got to win.

"Hopefully, we can put four quarters together."

72 - Mitiamo and Calivil United.

69 - Colbinabbin and Mount Pleasant.

69 - Golden Square and Sandhurst.

67 - Golden Square and South Bendigo.

67 - BL-Serpentine and Pyramid Hill.

66 - Mitiamo and Maiden Gully YCW.

65 - Eaglehawk and Golden Square.

65 - Calivil United and Pyramid Hill.

64 - Colbinabbin and Heathcote.

64 - Bridgewater and Pyramid Hill.

64 - Marong and Pyramid Hill.