Football
26 April, 2024
Close battles anticipated during Anzac Round
Round three of the Horsham District Football Netball League resumes tomorrow and there are some tight matches anticipated for Anzac Round.
After securing their first win since June 18, 2022, Laharum travels to Kaniva to take on the Cougars.
The Cougars are sitting on the bottom but will be going in confident as they have never lost a game to Laharum since they came into the league in 2020.
Demons co-coach Shan Argall said they just need to keep implementing the things they have been working on.
"The boys will be confident after the win and I'd be putting it on them that we have never defeated the Cougars and need to be at our best," Argall said.
"We just need to focus on one quarter at a time and continue to implement the things we have been working on."
Noradjuha Quantong welcomes back Brandon Ellis and Brock Orval when they host Natimuk in the Arapiles Cup at Quantong Recreation Reserve.
Ellis will be a key off half-back with Wade Francis providing run and Brock Orvall provides grunt and can hit the scoreboard.
Incepted in 2021, the Arapiles Cup is played over all grades in football and netball.
Both teams have won a game each to start the season and with the Bombers expected to be up there challenging this year, it is a good test for Natimuk.
Bombers coach Damian Cameron said they have been a bit inconsistent and need to work on that.
"We have played good footy in patches and spread well and dominated, but there are other patches where we have let the opposition control the footy a bit," Cameron said.
"With the win on the weekend, we had six new guys in the team so we can't expect to kick off from where we finished last year. It will take a bit to gel together, so hopefully that can start happening."
Taylors Lake will look to see how much they have improved when they host the Swifts at Dock Lake Recreation Reserve.
The Swifts have started well kicking 45 goals in the first two rounds with recruit Paul Summers kicking 19 goals.
Justin Beugelaar at the other end has also had a great start to the season with ten goals in two games.
The Lakers have started the season 2-0 and the last time they did that was back in 2015 when they made the semifinals.
The Swifts know they can't take them lightly and Swifts coach Brett Hargreaves is still looking for that consistency.
"We are looking forward to the game. It should be a good contest," Hargreaves said.
"We need to improve our consistency so it will be good to see how the game plan matches up when we are put under pressure."
Harrow Balmoral returns from the bye and plays their first game for the year at Harrow Reserve when they host an Edenhope Apsley team that has struggled to start the season.
Nick Pekin, Scott Addinsall and Josh Grant will be making their first appearances this year for the Southern Roos.
Roos coach Jai Thompson said they need to fix up their execution.
"Our game plan is working, but the execution and skill level lacked in round one," Thompson said.
"We have done a lot of skill work during the week with a lot of contested pressure. We need to get that right with the short kicking and I am confident things will click soon."
Kalkee will be eyeing their first win when they host Rupanyup at Kalkee Recreation Reserve.
The Panthers lost convincingly last week to Pimpinio and will be looking to bounce back whilst the Kees will want to avoid a 0-3 start.
The thing on the Kees side is the last two years, the Panthers haven't won there and Panthers coach Braydon Ison knows it won't be easy.
"Last week our disposal efficiency wasn't great and we struggled a lot by foot," Ison said.
"We also had a lot of new faces and a new game plan, so it is going to take some time to get around that.
"The Kees are strong at home and have some good players so we know it will be a difficult match."