A hunt for perfection is said to be behind Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong's undefeated start to the Riverina League season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Lions enter this Sunday's game against Turvey Park at 7-0 and a win over the Bulldogs will see the Lions enter the halfway mark of the season having defeated every side in the competition.
When you are on top it can be easy to become complacent with how you are travelling, however that hasn't been the case for the Lions this season who continue to improve despite their undefeated record.
Young forward Tom Sase has played every game for the Lions this season and he believed their continued improvement was a result of their pursuit to be the best.
"I think it's just that want to win every game, we never want to lose," Sase said.
"We want to be the best and be on top, I think that's our motivation just to always win and never take the foot off the throttle and just keep it going 100 per cent.
"We've got a strong drive to be the best team and we don't really want to lose."
The Lions latest performance saw them overcome a serious challenge from fellow finals contender Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes.
After conceding the first two goals of the second half, the Lions then put the foot down and eventually went on to record a 10-goal win on the road.
The Lions have been a force to be reckoned with during the opening third of the season and Sase said he's loving how they've tackled the opening seven games.
"I'm really impressed with how well the boys have been playing," he said.
"We've gelled for a couple of years now and we are just continuing that.
"With Marto (Sam Martyn) coaching, I think we've taken that to another level this year."
The Bulldogs have found their feet in recent weeks after a slow start to the season and they enter the clash at Ganmain Sportsground having defeated Narrandera by 77 points over the weekend.
Sase said he was looking forward to their clash against the reigning premiers and he believed it should be a quality contest between the two sides.
"Yeah I'm really excited," he said.
"I think we've had a couple of games at home and they've been really good, lots of crowds coming and I think we've had really nice weather as well.
"I'm really excited for this weeks game.
"They are always pretty tough, although they've lost a couple of players I don't think they've lost much of their skill or talent.
"They are still a really good team and we will have to be wary of them."
The contest on Sunday will be the first time the two sides meet since their thrilling preliminary final last September where the Bulldogs pipped the Lions to qualify for the grand final.
Sase didn't play in that thrilling contest at Robertson Oval, however he understood if some of his teammates were chasing a bit of revenge for that devastating loss.
"We were a fair bit up and we lost it in the end," he said.
"I didn't play, but watching it from the sidelines was very difficult and most of the boys as well felt that it was hard to lose like that just before we could make the grand final.
"I think some of the boys will definitely feel a bit like they need to get one back on Turvey."
Sase has performed well for the Lions this year and enters round eight having kicked 10 goals.
He believes he's started the season relatively well and noted that he maybe had exceeded his own expectations after missing a fair chunk of footy in 2023.
"Coming off the injury last year I thought I'd be a bit unfit and maybe a bit timid," he said.
"But a couple of games in I think I started to feel like I was back and I was getting a couple of goals which is always handy as well.
"I think I'm going alright at the moment, but we'll see how the rest of the year goes I suppose."
