OVER the past decade Sawtell/Toormina has been involved in plenty of big matches so it may be understandable if the Saints players were taking the build up to this afternoon’s top of the ladder clash against the Coffs Swans all in their stride.
Not so according to Sawtell/Toormina’s playing coach Jim Angel.
“Certainly the focus has been right,” Angel said.
“This is my third or fourth year at the club now and normally the guys are pretty cruisy.
“Right now we’ve got guys who I haven’t seen this focussed so early in the week before.”
The Saints will need to be focussed as the Coffs Swans are prepared to throw the proverbial kitchen sink at their opponents in the battle of the competition’s two undefeated teams.
Despite being a relatively new group still learning each other’s nuances, the Swans’ playing coach Jay Guthrie has promised to play to a standard befitting such an exciting clash.
“Sawtell’s strength has been that they’ve had a pretty solid list for the last five years and that will be in their favour,” Guthrie said.
“We’re definitely out to match them though, playing with physicality and sticking to our game plan.
“We’ll need to play to a high standard to win but we think we can do that.”
So far this year both the Swans and Saints couldn’t have been more outstanding.
Sawtell/Toormina has won its opening three matches by an average margin of 145 points while Coffs Swans have won their three by an average of an equally impressive 102 points. For Guthrie though the proof in the Coffs Swans pudding will come from today’s result rather than the past.
“At this stage it looks like there are two teams ahead of the pack and this will show us where we’re currently pegged,” he said.
A win will have the Swans favourites to win the club’s first premiership in 15 years.
One team to open its 2014 account
BOTH North Coffs and Port Macquarie have started their respective seasons with three straight losses by large margins.
One of the pair will break the losing streak this weekend when they meet at Paul Sheldon Oval.
The Magpies are warm favourites to record their first win since lifting the premiership trophy after last year’s grand final.
North Coffs will be heading down the Pacific Hwy hoping they will acquit themselves well.
Assistant coach Tim Joseph will be holding the reins of the team as captain/coach Darren Funston continues his European vacation.
For Joseph, while he’d love a win, he believes the early rounds of the season are simply about the Kangaroos developing the players who are new to senior football.
“At this stage we’re trying to continue building with the the new players we’ve got,” Joseph said.
“We’re trying to get some game time into them and trying to get them to play some good structures.”
While admitting the start to the season has been less than ideal, Joseph said the big defeats are a reflection of how hard the players are trying.
“The losses haven’t been because of a lack of effort, the players are putting in and that’s important,” he said.
“We just haven’t been able to get our full team on the park or our better players all together.”
The Kangaroos are expecting a few key players to return to the line-up this weekend.
AFL finds a new home at Gladstone
GLADSTONE Oval is playing host to its first AFL North Coast match.
There hasn't been a senior match played in the Macleay Valley since Kempsey last played in the competition in 1993.
This weekend's clash between Camden Haven and Grafton will change that.
The clash will provide a long distance challenge for the Tigers but it's a challenge they should overcome
While plenty of early season attention has been concentrated on the two undefeated teams, Grafton has been flying below the radar
The Tigers were comfortably beaten by the Coffs Swans prior to Easter but the club has virtually been doing its pre-season while the opening rounds of the season are being played
To use horse racing parlance, a big result in its favour on Saturday will see the Tigers sitting nicely one-back, one-wide.
Last Modified on 02/05/2014 16:51