ULTIMA will have the perfect opportunity to inflict Hay’s first loss of the season this weekend, with the Lions set to go into the top-of-the-table clash missing several key players.
Leading goalkicker Declan Watson is set to miss Saturday’s match against the Roos, along with his brother Jacob and Joel Crocker, with the pair set to leave a huge hole in the Lions’ engine room.
The news isn’t all bad for the visitors, however, with Christian Foster set to play his first game since round 6.
Hay coach Mick Cattanach said he was expecting Foster to slot straight into the midfield.
“He will be a handy inclusion, he played earlier this season and has been tied up with work commitments, but he’s back in this weekend and we think he’ll be an important part of our team,” Cattanach said.
“He’ll come straight into the midfield, which will help because Jacob’s been really good for us in there, so he’ll come in and give us a hand filling Jacob’s spot.”
Foster will need to be at his best for the Lions, along with Jack Cattanach and Hugh Crighton, to counteract Ultima’s deep and talented midfield, according to the coach, who was prepared for the Roos’ onballers to take the game on.
“We rate Jake Foster highly and Tom Bull and Mitch Seton-Stewart, who are just coming back to the fold now,” Cattanach said.
“Both of those guys didn’t play last time we played them, and they are really good footballers.
“Those three are the three that we’ve played against for the best part of two years, and we’ve got total respect for how good footballers they are.
“(Ultima) have improved this year in the middle. Last year I felt they ran out of depth a little bit, but this year they’ve added guys like Cameron Johnson, Ricky Wild and Darcy Farrell.
“They have so much more depth and guys that can play through there than they did last year.
“It will be a huge test for us to go to Ultima and try to knock them off regardless of what’s happened already this season, if we can be competitive and get the win, that would be massive for our boys’ self-belief.”
Despite sitting on top of the ladder as the only undefeated team, including two wins against Ultima, the Lions will face a test to stop the Roos’ talls.
Ryan Devereux, Jay Reynolds and Matt Taverna all kicked four goals for Ultima in their 101-point win over Murrabit last Saturday.
“Clearly they’re playing really good footy, our challenge is going to be making sure we can compete with them in the air I feel,” Cattanach said.
“It will be really important for us not bomb the ball into our forward line as well and expect to take contested marks.
“Their intercept markers are really good and if you do that, you just give them so much run out of their back half and they get going.
“We’re going to need to be really careful with our ball movement going forward and compete with the talented group of midfielders that they’ve got and win the ball at the source.”
The Lions will go into the match favourites after comfortably accounting for Macorna last Saturday.
The Tigers will hope to rebound and lock away the final spot in this year’s finals when they host Moulamein.
The Swans almost produced a shock upset last Saturday against Wandella, with the Bombers kicking three unanswered goals in the final quarter to overrun the gallant opposition.
Xander Hartland, Rodney Reeves and Will Gibson continued their good form and will need to be at their best again if they are to go one step further against a Tigers team who will be determined to return to the winners’ list.
Wandella will host Murrabit, with the Bombers hoping to make it three from three against the Blues this season.
Michael Rowe kicked five goals for Murrabit the last time the two clubs met but missed last Saturday’s win over the Swans, with Justin Robinson stepping up in Rowe’s absence to kick five goals of his own in his return from injury.
Robinson again looms as a key player for the Bombers, who will be keen to secure the four points and go into the finals in form.
