ST MARY’S-TYNTYNDER will begin their premiership defence Saturday afternoon when they travel across town to face a hungry Ultima-TUF at the Alan Garden Reserve.
The Roodogs faced St Mary’s-Tyntynder in the final home-and-away match last season and when needing a win to play finals were found to be well short, capitulating with the bat to lose by 168 runs.
Six months on both teams have wiped the slate clean, and although St Mary’s are now the hunted instead of the hunter, their captain Nathaniel Holmes-Brown is hoping a regeneration with youth will keep them at the top of their game.
“Everyone’s up and about and excited about the new season,” Holmes-Brown said.
“We were obviously happy and content with how last year finished but we all have the belief that we can do it again.
“We’ll have a couple of changes from last year but those changes will give opportunities for some of the young kids to come in and have an impact.
“We’ll have a young side this week but there’s nothing wrong with that.
“I’m actually excited to see how the boys go about it.
“We want to be challenged because that’s what makes you a better side.
“You can’t always be reliant on the same players to perform week in, week out to get the job done.
“It takes an 11-player effort every week to get the points and this week will be no different.”
Corey Daniels will leave a massive hole for St Mary’s-Tyntynder with both bat and ball, and the Bulldogs are also set to be without Jake Foster, Jack Shannahan and Dom Violi for Saturday’s match.
Ultima-TUF won’t be at full strength for their opening game of the season either, as key middle order batsman Mitch Seton-Stewart will be missing from the Roodogs’ line-up.
Kade Benfield was optimistic of a strong showing against the reigning premiers when speaking with The Guardian this week as the home side is set to have a particular emphasis on producing a much better performance with the bat than in their last encounter with the red, white and black.
“It’s the first game of the season,” the Ultima-TUF captain said.
“We’ll be out there to win and we want to win but at the same time our main aim will be to be competitive and get our season off to a strong start.
“The footy season has gone a bit longer for a lot of our guys than it has in previous seasons so we’ll just need to make sure we’re switched on right from the start on Saturday.
“They’re (St Mary’s-Tyntynder) pretty strong in all facets of the game so if we can just even the contest, we’ll be happy.
“Their bowling is their biggest strength I feel but if we can bat our 40 overs and put the bad balls away when they bowl them, that will hopefully set us up for the match.”
Benfield himself will be a key figure in the Roodogs’ ability to build a defendable total, along with Kyle Symons and Josh Waldron.
While the Bulldogs will be without Daniels, they will still have a strong and deep bowling attack, with Holmes-Brown to be joined by Robin Sebastian, Austin McKerrow and youngsters Charlie King, Rylan Barnes, Koben Ryan and Hugh Thompson.
While St Mary’s-Tyntynder will go into Saturday’s Round 1 match as favourites, Holmes-Brown won’t be taking his opposition lightly.
“They’ve (Ultima-TUF) improved a lot in the last couple of seasons and they were very competitive last season,” Holmes-Brown said.
“If you don’t get Kyle Symons out early he can hurt you late in the innings and it’s the same with Ayden Symons and Kade Benfield.
“They’re a versatile team with the ball as well so we know we’ll have a challenge on our hands against them but hopefully we can stand up and get the job done.”
