Rats ready to face old mentor after opening round win | WFNL round two

Despite coming up against the 2023 premiership-winning coach so early in the season, senior co-coach Tom Mills says the players' focus will be on themselves.

"It's not really a focus. I mean, we're not playing against him

[Walder] he's just coaching," Mills said.

"Going into the game, Warrack has a lot of new players, too, so they're a bit unknown as well. It's just focusing on us and getting best prepared for the game."

However, there will be a few changes after some injury concerns against Horsham.

Mills himself has been recovering in hospital after a collision ended his afternoon early, whilst vice-captain Jake Ganley (calf) and Xavier Vearing are unlikely to take part.

The Rats overcame the Demons after they were down by eight points at half time.

"They were a very quick side we found, and their pace in the first half of the game is something we had to get on top of," Mills said.

"Once we wore them down we were able to make it more contested footy, then their lighter bodies and we were able to take more control as the game went on."

Sonny Kettle was a significant reason for the turnaround; he was swung forward after he spent most of the game through the midfield.

"He kicked three within about six minutes. He just exploded in the third quarter, which is great to see," he said.

The Rats will look to make two-straight wins, while the Eagles will look to rebound from a heavy loss to the Thunder.