AFTER two weeks of punishing training, the Devils hope to find out
if their desire to do the hard things just took a day off or is on a longer
holiday.
The players and coaching staff quickly recognised the missing
ingredients in their loss to Sandringham before last week's bye.
Captain Ben Beams said the side had trained accordingly for today's
VFL match against Bendigo at Windy Hill.
``People know from watching the way we play we are a hard one-on-one
side,'' Beams said.
``That is when we play well and we went away from that a bit for a
couple of quarters against Sandringham and they won the game.
``It could have been a different result if we tackled a bit better
and were a bit more man-on-man.
``We have worked on that over the past two weeks and it is
definitely something we will see a difference in tomorrow.''
The Devils lie in sixth spot with a 3-2 win-loss record while
today's opponents are winless and sit in last spot, just like their
AFL-affiliated team, Essendon.
But Beams said that on paper Bendigo appeared a far better side than
what its position on the ladder would suggest.
``This is a game people expect us to win and if you win on the road
it is definitely a bonus,'' he said.
``Looking where they are on the ladder, we have to put that out of
our mind because in their side they have got Jordan Doering, Justin
Blumfield, Sam Lonergan -- who is a really hard nut for us -- and Nick
Carter, who played with Melbourne and Brisbane.
``They have also got Tristan Cartledge, Damien Peverill and Simon
Rosa on ball, so they have probably got their best side on the park this
year and that is the way we have to approach it.''
The fourth-year captain said the Devils always looked forward to
playing against Doering, who won the Devils' best and fairest in his only
year in Tasmania in 2003.
``He is an absolute ball magnet,'' Beams said.
``We have to play someone close on him like Matthew Geappen, Sam
Fielding and Tom Hislop, who can also push up the ground.
``That is the key. We have got to exploit Jordan because he zones
off.
``We have to use his man to make him man up and take him out of the
ground.''
The Devils will be without Trent Bartlett (ankle) and Nathan Grima
(suspension), while Mariners' key position player Mitch Thorp will make his
debut. Today's game starts at 1.10pm.
By: BRETT STUBBS
Last Modified on 20/05/2006 14:45