Hampson out for Warriors

NORTH Geelong will go into today’s game against in-form Eastern Lions without English centre-back Ben Hampson.

Hampson notified the club when he signed his contract in June that he would miss this fixture, which now opens the door up for the returning Anthony Banovac.

In other weeks, the loss of Hampson may have proved costly for a Warriors side that cannot afford to drop any league points on its run home to the end of the season. But the emergence of Lewis Waight can keep coach James Coutts’s mind at bay at least until kick-off.

Waight, a much-loved figure around the club, is starting to reap the rewards of his dedication and persistence.

“Lewy is one that just goes about his business, he’s a lovely lad, he’s very polite but he’s not one that’s going to force his way in,” Coutts said.

“We always knew he could come in and do a job, but he’s one that after the first couple of weeks I wanted a bit more from him and gave him a bit of a challenge to go in and earn his spot.

“Sometimes with young players you want them to show you how much they want to play. Lewy is a laid-back character in his nature but since he’s been in there he’s been superb.”

Waight, a medical student during the week, will pair up with Banovac for the first time this season in what is another crunch game if the Warriors are to push for a promotion playoff spot.

Eastern is coming off an impressive 2-1 victory over Moreland — which sits four points ahead of North on the league table — so coming up against the Lions away from home won’t be an easy task, Coutts admitted.

“It’s going to be a very hard fight, a very hard game — they’ve gone to Moreland City and won, they’ve gone to Moreland Zebras and won,” he said. “They fight to end, they scrap and they’re physical but that by no means is taking away from how they can play football now as well.”