AFTER strong wins last week, both Macorna and Moulamein have the opportunity to continue their momentum at Tigerland on Saturday afternoon.
Having defeated Wandella by 15 points, the Tigers will fancy their chances of a second-straight upset when they host the Swans, who themselves produced a commanding 66-point win over Murrabit.
Saturday’s match will be yet another step up for Macorna, with their coach Scott Wishart expecting the match to be decided in the middle of the ground.
“(Moulamein) looked pretty good last week, they moved the footy pretty well, especially in those conditions,” Wishart said.
“They have a lot of depth through the midfield, so we’ll have to step it up this week and try and match them in the centre and around the stoppages.
“That’s where the game will be won and lost – they get a lot of goals from their midfielders who push forward, it’s a real strength of theirs and one where we’ll need to get our guys to step up and try to nullify them.
“We’ve got a bit of depth through there as well so I’m confident we can, but that’s where it will be won and lost.”
Moulamein coach Heath Moloney agreed with Wishart, telling The Guardian whichever team can get their hands on the ball first and use it effectively will go a long way.
“It all starts in the midfield for us, we want to play an attacking style of game and it’s about getting the ball into our key forwards and giving them as many looks at the goals as we can,” Moloney said.
“We feel one of our big strengths is our forward line, with Beau (Duggan-Hulands) playing that key forward role and combined with our small, agile forwards, we feel we have a pretty good combination down there.
“Our midfielders have been pretty dangerous too – Daniel Aarsman kicked three on the weekend – but for us it’s about getting the basics right, getting the rotations right, working on our forward entries and hopefully the rest takes care of itself.”
While Moulamein are expected to go in with close to an unchanged line-up, Macorna will have one new addition, with former St Kilda City player Hugh Mason set to debut.
Another other area of interest will lie with the Swans’ forward line, particularly given Macorna’s defensive six led by Nick Ingleton and Lachlan Ritchie, and their ability to shut down Moulamein’s ability to score.
Fresh off their heart-stopping six-point win over Hay, Ultima will return home and host a desperate Wandella, who’ll be looking for their first points of the season.
While the Bombers will go into the must-win game unchanged, the home side will be without coach and key forward Kyle Symons, who will sit under concussion protocols.
Murrabit host Hay, with both clubs still searching for their first win.
Having played out two absolute thrillers last season, and one 100-plus point blowout, seemingly very little separates either side yet again this season.
