AFTER getting within six points of the ladder leaders in round 2, Murrabit will be hoping for a repeat performance when they travel north to Hay tomorrow afternoon.
The Blues went agonisingly close to toppling the premiership favourites that afternoon, with the Lions seemingly going from strength to strength since to remain the only undefeated team in the Golden Rivers seniors competition.
It promises to be a big afternoon for the home team, with full-back Kenneth Jubb playing his 200th senior game for the Lions in a match where they would ideally like to make a statement against the team who pushed them all the way to the final siren, according to Hay co-coach James Moran.
“We were a bit undermanned (in round 2), but they (Murrabit) lost their coach in the warm-up as well, so they weren’t full strength either,” Moran told The Guardian this week.
“Maybe we went in a little bit complacent but they were fantastic last time we played them and they just reacted really well to turnovers, they ran hard and worked really hard as a team.
“They had better endeavour than us and we need to come in ready to play tomorrow.”
The Lions will be without key forward Justin Ellis for tomorrow’s all-important clash, while the Blues will welcome James Stewart back into their line-up.
Stewart will be a handy inclusion for Murrabit, whose coach Jack Shannahan is hoping his class and ability to win the contested ball plays a key role in the Blues reversing the round 2 result.
“I think our contest and our clearance work has been really good this year and that’s probably been the best area of our game,” Shannahan said.
“They (Hay) have some really good onballers, but if we can even it up in there and try and get little wins out of the contest and get the clearances going our way, I think it will go a long way towards us getting the result we want.
“Their midfield are all very good and you can’t tag them all, but we have to try and match them in there and make it a bit of a scrap.
“They have a couple of really dangerous forwards as well so we’re going to have to get those matchups right and then (Joel) Crocker off half back can really hurt you as well.
“They have guys on every line that can do some damage, so it’s going to have to be a team effort and everyone is going to need to buy into the team defence and put maximum pressure on when it’s your opportunity.
“On the flip side, we’ll have to be really good when we have the footy, we’re going to have to try and make the ground big and make them defend as well and hopefully we can hurt them going back the other way.”
Adam Thomson will be another key player up forward for the Blues, as will Austin McKerrow who has been in career best form across half back this season.
In the other games, Ultima will host Moulamein in a must-win match for the Swans, while Wandella will travel to Macorna to face the Tigers following the Bombers’ nail-biting four-point win over Macorna in round 2.
