THE Cohuna Kangas go into Saturday’s all-important clash against unbeaten Kerang confident of an upset, according to Cohuna coach Georgia Anderson.
The Kangas proved no match last Saturday for the Mallee Eagles, the other team along with the Blues who have made the early running this season, going down to the ladder leaders by 22 goals.
But despite that result, Anderson was upbeat when speaking with The Guardian this week, with the Kangas coach expecting a much more competitive display against their arch rivals.
“I’m optimistic about this weekend, even after last week, I was really happy with so many of our efforts defensively,” Anderson said.
“We were so good defensively even with Carly (Geary) out, we were unreal. So, yeah, we just we have so much experience, so so many great players.
“I think the girls were quite nervous, but now that we’ve had a taste of what it takes to beat the better teams, I feel we’re ready.
“I said to the girls last week it’s actually better to play one of the top teams because we have nothing to lose, it’s a free swing basically.”
Carly Geary will return for the Kangas against the Blues, with her return timed perfectly ahead of a meeting with one of the strongest attacking combinations in the Central Murray A grade competition.
Kerang are second only to the Eagles for goals scored this season, averaging just over 48 goals per match with Denise Roberts and Katelyn Wright beginning to form the basis of a very strong combination under the Blues goal ring.
Geary will most likely defend Roberts, leaving Marli Easton to contend with Wright.
But it’s at the other end of the court where most of Anderson’s attention has been focused this week, with the Cohuna coach hoping her team is able to rectify some of their issues in attack from last Saturday’s loss.
“It was pretty evident last week, we just made too many mistakes in our attack end,” Anderson said.
“That’s where I’ll really try and hone in on ahead of Saturday, just making sure we stick to our plans and try to play the style of play that we want to.
“When we get that right I think we’re going to be a really good side.
“We just have to really get things right in our attack and our strategies and that structure of play, that’s our focus this week.
“I’m thinking their (Kerang’s) attack end is quite strong and they’re obviously gelling well together, so it will be a challenge for us in defence and we’re really going to have to bring that intensity for all four quarters.
“They a quite tall in defence with Chloe (Adams) down there and they’ll want to make us create a lot of movement so they can pick the ball off and we’ll just need to make sure we don’t fall into that trap.”
One of the key players for Cohuna’s attack will be a player the Blues know intimately well, with Carla Walker playing her first game against Kerang after departing at the end of last season.
It will be a similar scenario for Blues goal defender Maddy Black, with the former Kanga also set to play her first match against her former club, with the pair ironically expected to line up on one another.
Although a much-improved performance can be expected from the Kangas, recent form favours the Blues, who are yet to show any signs of slowing down as they race towards the top of the ladder this season.
Tip – Kerang to win by seven goals.
