If the coaching staff had been told before the game that the team was going to win by 68 points, they would have been very happy. But to be 73 points up at half time - keeping the opposition goalless before being out-scored

in the second half - the win was a disappointing way to go into the bye.

Hepburn was dominating throughout the first two quarters, but spectators would have been forgiven in believing that it wasn't the same 22 players that reappeared from the Bill Pedretti change rooms after the main break.

Co-captains Alan Ware and Lee Cox gave stand-out performances for the Burras.

Ware spoiled, tackled, marked and rebounded time and time again, while the ever-efficient Cox just kept thrilling the crowd with his marking ability, finishing with eight goals.

During the first half, Hepburn's pressure was so intense that in the space of three minutes Springbank's backmen turned the ball over three times, resulting in as many goals.

Daniel James was hit on the chest on two occasions, and when Trevor Johnson intercepted a wayward pass and sent the ball back over the defenders' heads for a goal, the Tigers looked in disarray.

But to their credit, and as they have done all year, Springbank didn't give up and after half-time showed the improvement that everyone was expecting to see.

Dan O'Halloran and Jarrod James were influential all day throughout the midfield, running hard to every contest they could muster linking up well with the likes of Anthony Baker and Jarrod King.

Score: Hepburn 16.17 (113) d Spring-bank 7.3 (45). Goals: L. Cox 8, A. McKay 2, J. King 2, D. James 2, A. Baker 1, T. Johnson 1. Best: A. Ware, A. Baker, L. Cox, D. O'Halloran, J. James, L. Santurini.