The battling Northern Blues will travel to Box Hill on Saturday under new coach Darren Harris as they try to resurrect their season, as Adem Saricaoglu writes.
The Blues have won just one game so far this season and will be looking for some renewed confidence after a disappointing 51-point loss to Geelong last week.
But Harris says there are still plenty of positives that his side can build on for the rest of the year, starting on Saturday against the Hawks.
“There’s probably only been two games for the year that we haven’t been a chance to win at three-quarter time, so we just need to get four quarters of consistency,” Harris said.
“The goal is to get some spirit going and every week all we’re trying to do is be a team, and play as a team, so that will be our challenge.
“The other thing we want to do is make sure we get as many development players putting pressure on the senior side.”
Harris cited strong individual performances against Geelong as another sign of good things to come.
“Andrew McInnes I thought was outstanding and is pushing up for senior selection, I thought (Jordan) Russell was very good across half back, and he’s now starting to find some form,” he said.
“Frazer Dale was a real positive for us and I thought (Ed) Curnow and (Andrew) Collins both pushed hard for senior selection as well, so there’s still a lot of positives to come out of the game.”
Harris said his side is looking forward to the challenge Box Hill will provide on Saturday.
“They’re like their senior team, they like to kick the ball and keep possession of it, they’ve got good midfielders and they’ve got a really good balance,’ Harris said.
“We know that we’re just going to have to be on our game and we know what we’re going to get, and that is a quality team, so we’ll be trying to match them one on one as best we can.”
Box Hill coach Damian Carroll said the return of skipper Daniel Pratt will provide a boost for the Hawks.
“Good to have Daniel back in, he’s obviously played pretty well for us this year and had a pretty hard knock against Williamstown,” Carroll said.
“He played in the development game last week and got through well, and we’re certainly really happy to have him back in the side.”
With the Hawks tenuously holding eighth place on the ladder with five wins, Carroll said a win against a side playing for a new coach is vital.
“It’s vital for us to get a win and we know they’re going to come out hard, they’ve had a pretty big week at their club,” Carroll said.
“They’ve got some good names in their side, so we don’t expect anything less than a very hard-fought game, and hopefully one that we can get over the top of.”
The game kicks off at 2pm at Box Hill City Oval on Saturday.
Last Modified on 29/06/2012 16:34