THIS Saturday sees two Mininera and District Football League rivals, Tatyoon and Moyston-Willaura, battle in what should be a mouth watering contest.
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Both Hawks and Pumas have high expectations for season 2016. With new senior coaches at the helm, plus a number of new recruits, there is plenty on the line.
Tatyoon coach Adrian Pilgrim says it will be a tough match ahead for his charges.
“We certainly expect a really difficult contest,” he said.
“Moyston-Willaura had a couple of really good wins recently before that big loss to Penshurst. It’s a little bit hard to tell where they’re at, but we’ll prepare for a tough match.”
The Pumas have a number of forwards that will certainly test Hawks defenders, including Jake Williamson, Shaun Orr, Arthur Armstrong, Andy Laidlaw and Tyson Marr.
John Vanderwaal, Daniel Guinane and Luke Walker have been providing Pumas’ fire power in the forward line, with Vanderwaal leading the League’s goal count. They also boast a premier ruckman in Josh Bywater, who Pilgrim described as a quality player.
“We’ll be looking to try and get on top of Josh, playing to our strengths and limit his impact on the match as much as we possible can,” the Hawks’ coach said.
Tatyoon has flexed its muscle in the past fortnight, recording a 45-point win against Glenthompson-Dunkeld and defeating Caramut by 153 points.
However, the Hawks have been battling injury woes and Pilgrim admitted it was frustrating for his side.
“It’s been a fairly tough start to the season. We’ve still got a lot of work to do to ultimately get where we want to go,” he said.
“We’ve had injuries and player unavailability which has been frustrating, but that’s way it goes.”
Among the injured is Sam Thomson, who has a stress fracture in his foot, new recruit Jesse Silver, and veteran Jarrod Blandford. Blandford broke his arm in round two and will miss another month of football.
In other Mininera matches, Wickliffe-Lake Bolac is at home to Great Western, Ararat Eagles host Hawkesdale-Macarthur while SM&W Rovers welcome Caramut. Lismore-Derrinallum clash with Penshurst and Woorndoo-Mortlake take on Glenthompson-Dunkeld.
Umpire appointments for round five: SM&W Rovers v Caramut – David Reynolds and Paul Spriggs; Ararat Eagles v Hawkesdale-Macarthur: Greg McKinnis and Phil Walton.