After starting the season in blistering form and remaining the only unbeaten side after five rounds, Ultima will now need to get used to becoming the hunted.
The Roos are without doubt the team to beat after dismantling Moulamein by 62 points in a top of the table clash last Saturday.
The team to get first crack at them in this second round of home-and-away matches is Wandella, with the perennial finalists seemingly a shadow of their former self, with just one win from their opening five rounds.
While their season may be on the line, Wandella coach Logan Keighran is looking forward to the challenge, while acutely aware that it will take a much-improved performance to against the new competition yardstick.
“It’s a huge game for us, it doesn’t matter how we get it done, we just have to get it done,” Keighran said.
“I thought we’d turned the page after our second half against Moulamein, and even on the weekend I couldn’t fault our effort, but at the moment our skill level and our execution is letting us down.
“We’re showing that we can perform and move the footy well in patches, but we need a more consistent effort.
“Our best footy can match it with them (Ultima), they’re a quick side and they like to get the footy out into space, so we need to defend a little bit better than last time.
“If we can limit their ball movement and their pace of ball movement, that will give us our best opportunity and give our backline a chance to organise themselves down there rather than being stuck in one-on-one contests.”
The Bombers will lose Matt Wilkinson, but will regain the services of Brock Henderson, with the dashing wingman set to give his side a much-needed injection of speed.
Ultima is also likely to have a change to their line-up, with Jacob Schaper set to come in for tough onballer Jake Foster.
Ultima will go in full of confidence having already beaten Wandella once this season, with a 50-point win back in Round 2.
Jack Fletcher was one of the stars for the Roos that day, keeping Bombers spearhead Keighran goalless, with the key defender likely to resume his battle with Wandella’s coach again tomorrow afternoon.
While his team are clearly playing an impressive brand of football, Ultima coach Kyle Symons will be taking no chances against the arch-rivals, telling The Guardian that anything less than their best football will likely see them suffer their first defeat of the year.
“They’re a good side with regards to how they move the ball quickly and how they can cut you open through the middle,” Symons said.
“We’ll definitely have to slow their run down and nullify their outside runners, but as long as we control the footy and get our hands on it first, that will go a long way to doing that.
“Our tackle pressure will have to be up in order for us to win the footy off them, then when we do that, we’ll be looking to get some rebound off half back.”
Moulamein will be out to return to the winners list when they host fourth placed Macorna tomorrow.
An 11-goal second half onslaught by the Swans back in Round 2 was enough to secure them the four points, with Andy Silva kicking five goals and leading the way.
Tomorrow should be seen as a danger game for last year’s grand finalists however, with the Tigers’ form improving over recent weeks, with last Saturday’s 85-point demolition of Murrabit the perfect indicator that Macorna will be far from easybeats.
The final game of Round 6 will see Murrabit travel to Hay and take on a youthful Lions side that are steadily building.
While the Blues are the only side without a win this season, they have performed much better than their form would suggest, and are not without a chance of an upset, despite the home side going in as red-hot favourites.
