TATYOON is likely to take an unchanged line-up into tomorrow's clash against Glenthompson/Dunkeld after the Hawks' strong performance in the opening round of the Mininera and District Football League season.
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Tatyoon coach Damian Cameron said he was thrilled with the effort of his side in round one to defeat Hawkesdale/Macarthur by 67 points a team which went deep into September last season.
"It was the perfect start to the season, playing a good side down on their home ground," he said.
"I was mainly happy with how we performed, given the fact we had such a different looking side to last year.
"We pretty much gelled straight away, which doesn't always happen."
The strength of Tatyoon is it's mixture of experience and youth, with veterans Sean McDougall and Jarrod Blandford getting their hands on the ball plenty of times in the opening match, as did young guns Mitch Cronin and John Butler.
Two new recruits for the Hawks who had an immediate impact were forward Sam Thomson (two goals) and defender Pat Willmore.
Cameron said he would be looking for a similar output from the two players this weekend against the Rams.
"Those couple of fellas have had a fair bit of time off footy and both of them played really well last week," he said.
"If blokes like that can work hard and play like they did, I think that is a good booster for the rest of the side."
Cameron said he is expecting a tough challenge when Tatyoon hosts Glenthompson/Dunkeld.
"I think they're going to be a fairly new-look side as well," he said.
"We're not going to be looking too much into who we are playing, we'll just mainly focus on getting ourselves right, especially at this time of the year.
"We had no weak links at all last Saturday, so that makes the team hard to change."
After falling 13 points shy of victory last week, Wickliffe/Lake Bolac will be fired up when it takes on Caramut.
The Swans struggled to put away serial cellar-dwellers Woorndoo/Mortlake for the best part of three and a half quarters in round one, so the Magpies should start favourites in this clash.
On his home turf Pies' ruckman Brad Keilar will be a force to be reckoned with and will give onball brigade Michael Otto, Jock Cameron and coach Chris Hilet first use.
Danniel Smith led the charge in front of goals last Saturday and if he can do the same again with support from Jason Quinlivian and William Warner, Wickliffe/Lake Bolac should open its account for 2015.
SM&W Rovers will be out to make it two from two when the team plays host to Hawkesdale/Macarthur.
Matt Mulcahy and skipper Nic Byre were both impressive performers in round one, as was forward Daniel Mengler in his first outing with Rovers.
Bulldogs' coach Joe Carmody said his team's attack on the ball was one of the highlights from the match and he was keen to see that continue against the Southern Eagles.
"Against Great Western we increased our intensity around the ball and our speed was a lot better, we were able to run harder both ways," he said.
"We can only control the things that we train and work on. They (Hawkesdale/Macarthur) are certainly a quality side and it will be a big challenge for us.
"We are really looking forward to seeing how we go against potentially a top two or three side."
After being touted as big improvers for season 2015, Great Western will need to show more when it travels to Penshurst to take on the Bombers.
While they were never out of the match last weekend, the Lions slipped into some bad habits which resulted in the margin blowing out in the fourth term.
Coach Andrew Bach was bitterly disappointed with the final result and will be asking his troops for a full four quarter effort tomorrow.
It wasn't all doom and gloom for the Lions, with Ben Hustler and BJ Birch-Burton both looking lively inside the forward-50, while new recruit Aaron Williams combined well with Nic Thomas.
Cody Virgona, Leroy O'Brien and Ben Newson could also be crucial to Great Western's chances of securing a win on the road.
While Woorndoo/Mortlake was more than competitive in its clash against Caramut last weekend, the Tigers will be hard pressed holding off a fit and firing Moyston/Willaura line-up.
The Pumas completely ragdolled the Ararat Eagles in a savage display, which saw the margin balloon out to 200-plus points.
Moyston/Willaura's spread of goal kickers was the highlight, with 12 different major scorers.
Luke Walker, who bagged six of those, could be ready to cement a permanent spot in the Pumas' best 21 after playing just two senior games in 2014.
Adam Taylor is another who has had an early impact following limited opportunity last season, while Owen Phillips will look to continue his strong start against Woorndoo/Mortlake.
Tomorrow's match against Lismore/Derrinallum is not so much about winning as it is being competitive for the Ararat Eagles.
Coach Lewis Baker would have been happy with the performance of youngsters Freddy Stokes and Naish McRoberts last week, while Nathan Wemyss and Daniel O'Connell also battled hard, but he needs more contributors.
Playing the Demons on the wide open spaces of Alexandra Oval may help the Eagles restrict their opponent's scoring opportunities.
Umpire appointments
Tatyoon v Glenthompson/Dunkeld (at Tatyoon)
- Dave Reynolds and Morris Rudolph
Penshurst v Great Western (at Penshurst)
- Paul Spriggs and Phil Forsyth
Woorndoo/Mortlake v Moyston/Willaura (at Woorndoo)
- Sonny Walton and Leo Mooney