MURRABIT will welcome back three key players for Saturday’s must-win encounter with reigning premiers Ultima, with the Blues looking to confirm themselves as genuine finals contenders.
Jordan Lampi, James Russo and Joe Zambelli will come into Murrabit’s line-up, with the trio all expected to give the home side a boost following last Saturday’s 15-point win over Moulamein.
Saturday presents as a huge opportunity for the third placed Blues to take their first big scalp of the season, with senior coach Jack Shannahan and his team ready to “embrace the challenge.”
“It’s going to be a huge challenge, but we’re really confident with the way we’ve been playing and there’s no better way to test yourself than to play against the best,” Shannahan told The Guardian this week.
“We’ll definitely see where we’re at, whether that’s on the winning side of things or losing sort of things, we’ll come out of it knowing exactly where we stand.
“Hopefully we can be competitive and who knows what can happen, if we can play the way we’ve been playing, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”
While Saturday’s match will be an important one for the Blues, it will be equally important for Ultima in the context of their season, with the Roos needing to keep winning in order to maintain pace with ladder leaders Hay.
Having defeated Macorna by 70 points last Saturday, Ultima should go in full of confidence and ready to go according to co-coach Mitch Seton-Stewart, who like Shannahan, is fully aware of the importance of Saturday’s clash.
“You never know what’s going to happen throughout the year with injuries and things like that,” Seton-Stewart said.
“To get those early wins on the board just takes a little bit of pressure off and gives you a little bit more assurance come the mid-way part of the season.
“Those early wins really are important; they give the option of resting guys that are sore and those wins can sort of cement yourself in the top two and give you that double chance which is really crucial.”
Murrabit have been one of the Golden Rivers’ big improvers so far on the back of several key recruits, such as Logan McKinnon, James Stewart, Adam Thomson, Bailey Pengelly, Bryden Morison and Ben Derbas.
While Saturday will be Ultima’s first look at the new and improved Blues, the Roos are somewhat of a known quantity, with a similar squad and game style to the one which earned them last year’s premiership.
“They’re (Ultima) pretty even across the park, so it’s going to be hard to pin them down in one area, but their half backs and their back six as a whole are really strong,” Shannahan said.
“They’re pretty experienced down there and they know how and when to zone off and how to work with each other.
“In that regard, Cal Brady is probably one to watch in that space.
“He can really tear you up and take a lot of intercept marks and kick starts their offence.
“They’re really well organised with taking intercept marks and then changing the angle and switching the ball, that’s one of the main ways they can cut you up so we’ll have to be onto that.”
Although Ultima’s game plan revolves around possession of the ball, it’s a slightly different focus that Murrabit bring to the table according to Seton-Stewart, with the two styles set to clash in a big way on Saturday.
“I think they’re (Murrabit) a really high pressure team, they put a lot of pressure on the ball early and I get the impression that’s one of the key reasons they started the game really well against Moulamein,” Seton-Stewart said.
“For us, we just need to try and continue to do what we did last weekend and control the footy as best we can, try and limit our turnovers and use the ball really well by hand and foot.
“We need to limit their turnover play and hopefully that helps limit their scoring opportunities from there as well.”
While most eyes will be the Vince Maher Recreation Reserve, there will also be significant interest around the Wandella Recreation Reserve, with the fourth placed Bombers set to host fifth placed Moulamein.
With Wandella’s percentage taking a hit last weekend, victory to the Swans would see them climb into the top four for the first time this season.
Moulamein would fancy their chances of an upset as well, with the new-look Swans improving with every match under new coaches Hayden Dalitz and Brodie Tonkin, with their best form expected to come in the second half of the season.
The midfield is expected to be the key battleground, with Wandella needing to at least break even out of the middle against the talented and deep engine room that the Swans possess.
The final match of round 5 will at Tigerland, where bottom of the ladder Macorna will attempt to do what no team has been able to do so far – defeat Hay.
With the Tigers yet to win on 2025 and the Lions yet to lose, a David versus Goliath appears in the offering, with Macorna kicking 10 goals or more just once this season.
