Dragons look to unleash their fire against Joeys
BELL Park co-coach Luke Rayner says his side can confirm its status as a genuine premiership contender this weekend when it battles unbeaten St Joseph’s in a blockbuster GFL clash.
As the Dragons enter their toughest test of 2017, Rayner admitted a win over the unbeaten Joeys would give his team “enormous: belief as it approaches September”.
“When you’re playing fellow finals-bound sides, you want to be solidified in the fact that you know you can be competitive,” Rayner said yesterday. “We’re all heading towards the back half of the season and the top five teams know they’re going to be part of finals.
“So for us to be competitive against St Joseph’s, and we weren’t in Round 1, improves the confidence and belief within the group. And if we can secure a win, that’s a real bonus against a side that’s undefeated.
“It’s certainly not the be all and end all, we want to go out and pit our game against the ladder leaders and see where it stands up.”
Bell Park was hammered by a rampant St Joseph’s to the tune of 57 points in the season opener, but has since emerged as arguably the most serious challenger to Joeys’ reign.
“We’ve been in good form, we’ve been playing some good, consistent, quality footy over the last couple of months, so we certainly go into the game feeling confident,” Rayner said.
“But we’re also well aware that it’s a really big challenge and one where we’re going to have to produce a really good performance to get the result.”
Rayner has every confidence in his team to cause a boilover, declaring his players were not intimidated by St Joseph’s.
“We’re certainly not backing away from it,” Rayner said.
“We think we’re in the mix and we certainly think we can go into the game giving ourselves every chance.
“We’ll take a positive mindset in and a lot of belief and confidence from our past couple of months. And while I still think there’s plenty of improvement in the way we play, we’ve set a reasonable standard ourselves.”
Rayner concedes his side can ill-afford a lapse in concentration, acknowledging the depth of goalkicking power in the Joeys’ line-up.
“St Joseph’s is the type of team that can put a quick score on the board,” Rayner said. “They’ve proven that in the majority of games that they’ve played. While they are consistent in the games they play, they usually have a burst of play where they are able to dominate, kicking seven goals to one or five to zip.
“At the end of the day it’s the old cliche, it has take 22 contributions and four quarters of consistent footy.
“They’re a quality side and they’ll get their run at it in general play and have momentum and times. It’s going to be about our ability to recognise that and see if we can cease that.”
The Dragons will regain key ball winners Luke Rounds and Tim Sheringham, while Jett Herrmann will miss the clash with knee soreness.