Griffith officially announced themselves as the ‘real deal’ with a 20-point win over Collingullie-Glenfield Park on Saturday.
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The Swans made it six straight to start the season and are now the only undefeated team remaining in the competition after a big win, 13.6 (84) to 9.10 (64) at Exies Oval.
Griffith started the top of the table clash strongly to lead at the first two breaks and then established a match-winning buffer with three unanswered goals in the third term.
The Demons finished the better in the final term but never made any serious inroads as the Swans put up their hand for premiership favouritism.
Griffith coach Will Griggs said the win showed the Swans are ready to take the next step after a couple of years of building.
“It’s more a belief thing for us to show that we are the real deal,” Griggs said.
“The main thing against Gullie, especially for us is, we’ve been coming over there and playing them and obviously they have been the powerhouse for the last four or five years and they have given us a fair hiding.
“So we had a chat after the game that it’s time for a new team to step up and that’s us.
“It was good to see us stand up and rise to the occasion.”
Griggs said it was one of the better wins he has been involved with in his time at the Swans.
“I’m very happy and very proud of the boys,” he said.
“It’s up there. The final against Mango at home last year was a very special one but this would definitely be in the top three or four.”
As has been the case all season, Griffith’s backline laid the platform for the win.
“To be honest, I thought our backline was fantastic,” he said.
“As usual, our run out of the backline was really good. We’ve been able to use the same core down there so we’re in sync and were able to move it out really quickly.”
Griffith had winners all over the park.
Jordan Iudica and Heath Northey led the charge in the middle. Northey went head-to-head with Jayden Klemke and finished the game strongly. The pair also combined for five goals.
Griggs was superb off half-back, while Guy Orton (Luke Gestier) and James Toscan (Marc Geppert) played key roles down back.
Jacob Conlan also impressed with his marking in attack.
All three of the Klemke brothers worked hard for the Demons, while Tom Byrnes impressed down back.
Gestier finished with three goals.
The tasks do not get much easier for Griffith, who will now set their sights on the longest road trip in the competition when they travel to take on Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes on Saturday.
Collingullie-GP host Wagga Tigers.