With only two games left in the first half of the TRFM Gippsland League season wins are vital for all clubs to keep in touch with the top five heading into the second half of the season.
Morwell coach Joel Soutar will wait until tonight to decide whether he will return to the Tigers line up, after being sidelined with an upper ankle injury.
“I’ll give myself until Thursday night and see how I feel. Moon boot came off on Monday,” he said.
Coming off a narrow loss to Traralgon, the Tigers will travel to Leongatha to take on the ladder leader.
“It’s a massive challenge for us. We need to start stringing a few games together and beating sides above us to try to put ourselves in the five,” Soutar said.
Saturday’s clash will mark the start of a big three weeks for the two time reigning premier.
“We have Leongatha, Wonthaggi and Sale. We need to try to pinch two of them, starting this week,” he said.
“I reckon Leongatha is the best team in the competition, they are definitely the bench mark,” Soutar said.
However the Tigers coach is keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to match ups.
“We have just got to limit their ball use in midfield,” he said.
The Morwell turf hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Parrots over the past five years.
The visitor has however come close, going down by just four points in 2011 and 16-points last year, a year which saw the Tigers win back to back flags.
Leongatha was in front in the final term, but the home team stormed home with an eight goal last quarter.
Traralgon will be bolstered by the return of several of its stars when it travels to Warragul to take on the Gulls. In fourth, Traralgon is five and three after eight rounds.
It’s a far cry from 2014, which saw it rue plenty of missed opportunities which saw it finish just outside the final five in sixth, a game behind Bairnsdale.
The six teams that played last week will enjoy a week’s rest.
However with its players aligned to clubs in the East Gippsland Football Netball League, week two of the split round nine is expected to see many Redlegs go back to their home clubs.
“All of our players are aligned with local clubs so they’ll go back to their clubs this week. Some players might play, some might rest but it’ll be nice to regroup, spend some time together as a club and get ready for the second half of the season,” said Bairnsdale coach Shaun Mooney.
Last Modified on 18/06/2015 16:07