ARARAT coach David Hosking says tomorrow's match is as much a mental battle as it is physical with the Rats looking to break free of a decade long stranglehold at the hands of the Horsham Demons.
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Hosking is hoping that the Rats' confidence continues to snowball on the back of their performance a fortnight ago, where the side snapped a five year losing streak over its other bogey club Dimboola.
"I think it is like a lot of things, once you have finally achieved it you take a lot of belief away," Hosking said.
"It is a bit like the situation we have had with Dimboola for many years. For example last year we were a better side than Dimmy we finished higher on the ladder and all those things, yet we couldn't beat them in the two meetings we had.
"With Horsham it is fairly similar. In the back of the guys' heads I think they know they're good enough, they just have to put together four good quarters."
There will be at least two forced changes to the Ararat line-up that defeated the Roos prior to last week's interleague break, with key defender Brady Miller suspended for three matches following a rough conduct charge and fellow backman Tom Williamson expected to be called upon by the North Ballarat Rebels.
James Laidlaw is a likely inclusion, while Aaron Searle's road to recovery from injury may see him return to the seniors via the reserves after being sidelined for the past five weeks.
The key to the Rats' success tomorrow afternoon could lie in the hands of a man who is the talk of the Wimmera at the moment.
Last Saturday Beau Cosson elevated himself into the competition's elite group of players after dominating for the Big W in their WorkSafe Country Championship win.
Cosson booted five goals and was named the Wimmera's top contributor for the match. Hosking said that is the standard the Rats' vice captain must now maintain consistently for the remainder of the season.
"That is the sort of performance I expect from Beau at club level for the rest of the year now," he said.
"I just thought his winning of one-on-one contests was the standout and he took some marks that he just hasn't been taking for us."
The battle for supremacy will be in the midfield and with quality such as Nic Pekin, Billy Lloyd and Brad Hartigan at the Demons' disposal, counterparts including Alan Batchelor, Jake Robinson and Harry and Jack Ganley will need to be at the top of their game.
Stopping Horsham's spread and ability to find space on the wide wings of Alexandra Oval could be the difference between winning and losing for Ararat.
"(Their midfield) have probably got an edge over our guys in terms of speed not much, but a little bit but I think we've probably got an edge in strength," Hosking said.
“Pekin and Jack Ganley are fairly similar, Jack is a bit taller, but they are both strong contested ball winners, so is Jake Robinson.
“I’d back the bodies and strength of Jake, Jack, David Brady and Beau — if he goes in — against theirs.
“Make no mistake though, you don’t win 11 of the past 12 premierships by accident. They are very, very good at what they do.”
Despite it only being round six, the result of this match is a crucial one. On top of the fact that both the Rats and Demons are sitting equal second on the ladder (four wins, one loss), these two teams will face off on three occasions during the home and away season, and an early victory will give a psychological advantage heading into the next encounter.
Hosking said he is not concerned that Ararat is taking on the reigning premiers an extra time in 2015.
“I haven’t mentioned it at training or anywhere to the team and that is not a deliberate thing from me, I’m just not thinking about that — we have to play someone three times, that’s just the reality,” he said.
“If we are going to get to the second last Saturday in September (grand final), then we will have to beat these blokes somewhere along the line.
“We may as well start Saturday.”