An injury-ravaged Lions side stood little chance against the ladder leaders, with the Magpies showing their intent from early on.

The visitors booted 4.7 (31) to 1.1 (7) in the opening term and did not slow down from there.

They kicked six goals in each of the next two quarters and finished off with five majors in the last to record a 21.12 (138) to 5.7 (37) victory.

To make matters worse for Great Western, they lost key recruit BJ Birch-Burton with a broken arm within the first five minutes of the match.

“It was just a freakish accident and BJ was really unlucky,” Great Western coach Will Bell said.

“We don’t know exactly how long he is out for but it will probably be a fair chunk of the season. Usually they take about six to eight weeks to recover from.”

It was a day out for the Magpies at Great Western, with 11 players scoring goals and Brock Wardlaw and Will Slattery booting four majors each.

“We identified this match as a bit of a danger game so to come away with a convincing win is pleasing,” Wickliffe-Lake Bolac coach Joe Otto said.

“Across the board our whole team played well, it was hard to pick a best six players.

“Our backline was good all day, making it hard for them to score. That made it a lot easier for our mids and forwards too.”

Despite winning by 101 points, Otto said he believes his side can step it up another gear.

“We need to work on our forward entry,” he said.

“We had a lot of the ball but wasted it a bit going forward. We can be even better if our use of the ball going inside 50 sharpens up.”

The Magpies remain undefeated atop the Mininera league ladder following the win, while a third loss in a row for Great Western sees them slide to seventh. 

Bell said he saw positives on Saturday in the loss.

“Some of our KPIs were really good like tackles, centre clearances and inside 50s which was pleasing,” he said.

“You obviously never want to lose by 100 points but I wasn’t too unhappy with what I saw from us.”

Bell had big plaudits for Otto’s team following the drubbing.

“They showed us why they are on top,” he said.

“All 21 of their players were guns, there is so much depth in their side and they still have players missing too.

“They would have to be the best team in the Mininera league I have seen for a long, long time.”