AFTER six clashes, the tally stands at Werribee six, Devils zero,
but no one can explain why.
Devils coach Brendon Bolton earlier this week could not put a finger
on why the Tigers are the only VFL team the Devils are yet to defeat, and
neither could his Werribee counterpart, former Burnie Docker Simon Atkins
yesterday.
``I don't know what the breakdown of the games is, but I would say
it is 50-50 to playing in Tassie and over here so I wouldn't have a clue,''
Atkins said.
But if the Devils are to bridge the one-game break between their
current ninth spot and the top eight,
they must break this duck tomorrow at Werribee's Chirnside Park.
Werribee is in seventh spot, just percentage off a top-four spot,
but also knowing it could still miss the finals.
Atkins said despite the earlier encounter, when Werribee won by 73
points at Bellerive, he was aware the Devils' recent form had seen them win
their past two games.
``They have had a real good two weeks of footy, and I expect nothing
else,'' he said.
``They are probably in the same situation as us, they have to win
games to get into the top eight; and we have to win to stay in there, so I
would expect to see a pretty hard game this week.''
Devils hero last week was tall forward Jade Rawlings, who bagged
nine goals against Bendigo.
But Atkins is familiar with Rawlings's game, because Rawlings played
for Werribee last year while he was on the Western Bulldogs list.
``I know a fair bit about Jade, he played in our grand final side
last year,'' Atkins said.
``He is a quality player and he only needs half a chance to do what
he did last week.''
Rawlings's tally took him to 43 goals for the season, fifth in the
competition.
Tiger James Podsiadly sits third, with 53, and should provide an
intriguing contest with former All-Australian full-back Jonathan Hay.
By: BRETT STUBBS
Last Modified on 13/08/2006 08:58