AFTER claiming their first win of the season last Saturday, Koondrook-Barham will be aiming to claim their first big scalp when they host reigning premiers Nyah-Nyah West United tomorrow afternoon.
Both clubs will go into this weekend’s clash off the back of opening round wins, with the Demons easily accounting for Swan Hill and the River Raiders clawing their way to a hard-fought 14-point victory over Tyntynder.
As good as last Saturday’s win over the Dogs was, Koondrook-Barham will need to take their game to another level against the reigning premiers, with new coach Marcus Demaria admitting as much ahead of tomorrow’s match.
“They (NNW United) had a good game last week against Swan Hill and after having a look at their some of their footage, they’re very instinctive in the way that they play,” Demaria told The Guardian this week.
“They trust one another, obviously playing and training together over a long period of time helps with that, but they look really good and fast on the outside, even more so than last year.
“I think we have a number of players that are capable of playing some really good footy, but we’re still trying to settle, we have a new team, a new game plan and I think once we settled last week, you could see what we’re trying to do as a team.
“It’s still going to take a number of weeks for us to get to where we want to be, but tomorrow will be a good test for us and we’re looking forward to the battle.”
One player the River Raiders won’t have to worry is Corey Daniels, who injured his hamstring during NNW United’s win over the Swans, with Dom Gallo also in doubt after straining his hamstring late in the match.
Small forward Max Thompson will come into the side as a replacement for Gallo if he doesn’t take his place in the team, with the young star expected to further add to the Demons outside speed up forward.
Koondrook-Barham are also expected to have at least one change, with defender Michael Grant ruled out and leaving the home side somewhat light on down back.
Grant would have been the ideal match-up for several of NNW United’s smaller forwards, with the Demons still a work in progress in their front half, according to co-coach Jason Murphy.
“Losing ‘Brando’ (Brandyn Grenfell) over the summer means we’re going to have a different look up forward this year,” Murphy said.
“We’ve spent a majority of the summer trying to work on our forward connections and that’s going to be a common theme for us over the early part of the season still.
“Our forward line is going to be work in progress for a while, but we’re happy with how it worked on Saturday, plus having a different look also makes us a little bit more unpredictable as well, which we’re excited about.”
Although the Demons forward line may not be their strength as yet, their ability to hurt opposition teams with their spread from the contest and then break the lines is, with Brayden Bigham, Lucas Iudica and Charlie Boulton among their better players last Saturday.
For Demaria, shutting down NNW United’s outside run will be crucial to securing back-to-back wins – but it will also be easier said than done.
“For us, we have some bigger bodied, inside ball winners, so we just need to be winning the inside contest,” Demaria said.
“That’s where I think we can have a real impact, just through making sure that we can get from inside to outside as quick as we can and get the ball moving forward.
“I think once we get the ball moving quickly forward, then we can be dangerous, but if our ball movement is slow and stagnant, then we might struggle a bit.
“We sort of fell away a little bit through half forward last week because of our ball movement, so that will be a bit of a focus this week.”
With half forward being an issue for the River Raiders, they will also need to put time into NNW United’s Joel Walsh, who has quickly developed into one of – if not the – league’s best intercept defenders.
The midfield battle is expected to be where the match will be won and lost however, with Murphy also aware of the threat posed by some of Koondrook-Barham’s new recruits.
“They (Koondrook-Barham) have really stacked their midfield, that’s pretty clear to see from the footage from the weekend,” Murphy said.
“(Benji) Neil, (Lee) Dale, (Jack) Shannon, they have plenty of class running through the middle so it’s going to be a real challenge for our boys, but we probably see our midfielders as being a little bit underrated at times and we’ll back our boys in against anyone.
“(Kye) Attwell is always a problem up forward for them as well, so we’re going to put a fair bit of time into him.
“We have the utmost respect for how he (Attwell) goes about it and he’s a real avenue for them to score.”
Although the Raiders will be clear improvers this season, just how far they have improved will be the big test, with the Demons going in as deserved favourites.
Tip – NNW United to win by 18 points.
KEY MATCH-UP
Kye Attwell v Joel Walsh
There’s no question about either players ability to impact a game, with both Attwell and Walsh considered vital to their respective teams structures.
There is a good to fair chance the pair will line-up on each other inside the River Raiders forward line, with the aerial display that the two contested marking beasts will put on worth the price of admission alone.
Walsh in particular can be extremely damaging across half back for NNW United and although Attwell would keep him honest, don’t be surprised to see Marcus Demaria deploy a defensive forward on the Demons intercept marker.
THE BURNING QUESTION
Can the Demons replace Corey Daniels?
While a question mark surrounds the fitness of Dom Gallo, the return of Max Thompson is almost a like-for-like replacement for the speedy high half forward/onballer.
Replacing Daniels, however, will be a much trickier proposition for the Demons, with his poise, class and experience almost impossible to replicate.
That he will miss an extended period after again injuring a hamstring would be a concern for NNW United, so a replacement to fill his void will be required long term,
While Mitchell Grinham and Jaydyn Stirling have the speed and run off half back covered, perhaps a more permanent move to half back for either of the Iudica brothers, Jordan and Lucas, or Brady Davidson, could be the answer.
