GOLDEN Rivers’ top two teams will reignite their rivalry tomorrow, with last year’s grand finalists Moulamein desperate to inflict a first loss on ladder leaders Ultima.
The Roos did a number on the Swans back in Round 5, with a nine-goal second half helping Ultima to a comfortable 62-point win at home.
While the Roos were clearly the better side that afternoon, they will also face a vastly different Moulamein outfit this time around, with key position players Beau Duggan-Hulands, Josh Flight and Anthony Daw all set to pull on the red and white tomorrow.
While his side has so far met every challenge this season, Ultima coach Kyle Symons knows that his side will need to be at their very best if they are to keep their winning streak intact for another week.
“We really tried to stop them around the stoppages (when they last played Moulamein), which worked well for us, but they’ll have a different look to them this time so we’ll need to be prepared to change things up a bit, too,” Symons said.
“They had a few key position players that didn’t play that day, so we’re expecting a very different structure this time around.
“I know it sounds pretty basic, but I think if we can stop the ball from getting in to them and win the ball around the contest and stop their onballers getting easy access to their forwards, I think that will give us our best chance of victory.”
Ultima will welcome back Mitch Seton-Stewart, after the star midfielder missed his team’s win over Macorna a fortnight ago.
While Moulamein will also have a key inclusion to their line-up, with Corey Farrell set to return, Swans coach Heath Moloney is confident of a much stronger showing from his side this time around, despite Ultima’s good form.
“They’re (Ultima) playing really good footy, and from what we saw last time and in general, they’ve been playing really good team footy, which is always hard to counter,” Moloney said.
“We’ll just go out there, play the best footy we can and stick to our game plan which I’m confident will stack up well against any side.
“We’ve got Beau (Duggan-Huland’s) back, plus Josh Flight and Anthony Daw back, none of which played last time against them, and even though we’ve still got a few injuries and won’t be at full strength, we’ll go in with a much taller team this time around which I think could be an advantage for us.”
While Moulamein will aim to use their height, Ultima will no doubt look to cut the Swans open with speed, with Tyler and Mitch Makepeace, Tom Bull and Darcy Farrell all seen as key play makers in countering the Swans’ offensive weapons Amos Farrell, Daniel Aarsman and Khy Stovell.
Murrabit will be hoping to make it two wins from as many games when they host Macorna tomorrow afternoon.
After breaking their win drought with victory against Wandella a fortnight ago, the Blues will go in to tomorrow’s match without a number of key players, including defender Michael Grant, who injured his hamstring in the win.
The Tigers will also be expected to make changes to their line-up, with former coach Wayne Mitrovic and Hunter Anset both expected to return at the expense of Troy Parker and Liam Roberts who will miss the must-win match.
Speaking of must-win games, that’s exactly the scenario for Wandella, with the perennial finalist’s season in free-fall and facing the prospect of winning on the road against Hay at Hay.
Making their task harder is the fact the Lions will welcome back a number of key players to their line-up tomorrow, with Luke Arandt, Dom Booth, Will Clarke, Tom Spence and Declan Watson all expected to resume from injury.
