LIONS EMBRACING JOEYS CHALLENGE
LEOPOLD coach Guy Morphet says his side is embracing the challenge of tackling unbeaten St Joseph’s in a match that will announce a new premiership favourite.
As the teams do battle for the first time this season, Morphet said his Lions were prepared for a real acid test at Leopold Community Bank Oval.
“Hopefully it’s not the last time we’ll meet them,” Morphet said, pointing to a potential finals match up later.
“We’re obviously excited about the challenge. We’re well aware of the strength of Joeys and they’ve got some talent in their side and we’re excited about what lies ahead.”
Joeys ar unbeaten through nine rounds, disposing of flag fancies St Mary’s, Colac and Bell Park in successive weeks.
The Lions have dropped one match – a 60-point hiding at the hands of the Saints – but have been clinical in seven of their nine matches.
After overcoming a gritty South Barwon last round, Morphet knows his side faces a greater test tomorrow. But he believes his side has the game plan to topple Joeys.
“I’ve said this before, any side in the top five of this competition is certainly beatable,” he said.
“We’re just got to make sure we stick to our game style and our structure. I certainly think they’re beatable.
“We’ve watched a fair bit of their footage, and no doubt they’ve got quality on every line, so we’ve got to make sure we’re right on our game to come away with the points.”
Morphet has identified a strategy to upset Joeys, but it will require hard work.
“They’re really strong on every line but they run really hard both defensively and offensively,” he said.
“So that’s something we’re going to have to negate.
“They’ve got some quality users like (Dan) Measures and (Ben) Capra down back. We have to make sure the boys know that they can’t just come and play two quarters and expect to get the job done. It’s going to have to be a full, four-quarter performance.”
The winner of the oneversus-two clash will claim top spot, but Morphet is adamant it means nothing.
“At this time of the year I don’t look at ladder positions too much,” he said.
“It’s more about making sure we’re evolving and developing our game style, which we’ve been doing.
“If we win, that’s great, but I’m not looking at what a win will do for us in terms of the ladder position. I’m more concerned about our guys giving a four-quarter performance and we have 22 contributors.
“I’ll worry about the ladder come the end of the year.”