Wickliffe-Lake Bolac will host Tatyoon in a rematch of the 2016 Mininera and District Football League grand final on Saturday.
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The Magpies are coming off a shock five-point loss to Glenthompson-Dunkeld in round one despite having five more scoring shots than the Rams.
Wickliffe-Lake Bolac coach Joe Otto said there was still lots of improvement left in the team.
"There is plenty to work on from last game with poor kicking costing us in the end,” he said.
“Hopefully this week we can be more accurate in front of goals and get more reward.”
The Magpies will make some changes to the team with defenders Chris Thornton and Tom Gibson coming back into the team for the round two match.
Otto said bringing Gibson back in would provide extra leadership on the ground with the captain set to strengthen the defensive 50 area.
“We are going to need to step up again if we want to be competitive against Tatyoon,” he said.
“It will just take a good four quarter effort to get the win.
“Last week we played well in patches but will need to lift our intensity across the full game if we are going to be successful.”
The Hawks are coming off a comfortable win against Ararat Eagles on its home ground in round one
Tatyoon coach Adrian Pilgrim said facing a grand final rematch would not change the way the team approached the game.
"It is just another game, we have not focused on that stuff too much,” he said.
"We expect the Magpies will come out and be looking to redeem themselves a bit from that grand final, but having said that, both sides have got new personnel as well.”
The Hawks’ first quarter against the Eagles was a scrappy affair and a more efficient start to the match is on their radar.
"Getting a better start is something we will be working on, we do not want to give opposition sides free rein early in the game,” he said.
"It is all about taking your opportunities, not just in front of goal but making sure the momentum continues for as long as possible.”
Tatyoon has been busy trying to get ball work into the players during training with a lot of the preseason focused on fitness.
Pilgrim said the ball work would hopefully translate into games early on.
"We have tried to get as much ball work into the guys as we can and get used to operating under pressure.
"And we do not want to underestimate the Pies, they are a quality side and have some wonderful players and some great on field leadership.”
Pilgrim said the team’s game plan would not change during the match at Lake Bolac.
"The grounds are fairly similar dimensions, so there is not too much difference in the size,” he said.
Tyler Cronin and Jarrod Blandford will both miss the match.