Anthony De Pasquale has played his best match for Kyabram since the opening round of the Goulburn Valley season and coach Paul Newman will be hoping the upward trend continues for the final seven games of the home-and-away season.
De Pasquale dominated the round one match against Rochester after he returned from a season in the Northern Territory with Nightcliff, where he kicked 42 goals in 18 games.
His 11 game-13 goal season wouldn’t be considered a “failure’’, but hopes were high for the former Bendigo Pioneer to continue his improvement in the elite country football competition.
De Pasquale kicked nine of his 13 goals in the first three games of this season, his 23 disposal-four goal opening round and last weekend’s 26 disposal-10 mark match the standouts.
On six occasions this year he hasn’t managed to collect a dozen possessions and repeat the promise he showed that earned him a Rookie of the Year nomination last year.
While he didn’t kick a goal in the Bombers win at GV Creamery Oval against Benalla, he had six inside 50 entries and seven score involvements.
Newman will also be hoping that the De Pasquale return to form influences the season of another young star, Cooper Vick.
Vick kicked 30 goals in 19 games last season, another of the Bombers to graduate from the Bendigo Pioneers program.
He has kicked just six goals in 10 games this season, but Newman has kept the faith with the mid-size forward who offers a different set of skills to Kyle Mueller, Tom Holman and Brad Mangan.
Missing from the weekend was Rhys Clark (six games-four goals) and Kayne Pettifer (eight games-11 goals).