’Fire in the belly’ and a Cairns-do attitude
ST LEONARDS sits top of the table in Division 1 but Highton 2 remains hot on its heels with a juicy clash set to take place at Highton tomorrow.
Highton 2 manager Chris Hodges was part of the side that fell at the final hurdle last season and said it was determined to make amends.
“There is plenty of fire in the belly, last year’s grand final was a huge disappointment,” he said.
Highton will enter Saturday’s showdown as favourite simply based on home-green advantage, but whether its grass or carpet, Hodges said his side was building confidence.
“The side is pretty strong, one of the keys to our success so far has been skipper David Cairns,” Hodges said.
“Three good wins with big margins has not only helped get the side over the line but also allowed other rinks not to panic if they are down.”
Leopold used its home-green advantage to take down reigning premier Torquay last week and will be keen to back it up with another victory, away at Clifton Springs this weekend.
“The selectors had a good look at the rinks after we lost to Ocean Grove a fortnight ago, they made changes and luckily they proved a positive,” Leopold’s Col Pavey said.
“It’s now up to the players to perform on a more consistent basis, we need to show we can win away from home.”
Torquay is expected to bounce back strongly when it returns home to take on City of Geelong 2.
Ocean Grove 3 welcomes Portarlington, who was a big round 3 winner but is another club that will need to find form away from home. This weekend could be Port’s chance, but underestimating Ocean Grove 3 at home could be dangerous.
Geelong Cement hosts Ocean Grove 2, with both clubs keen to show they can be a force this season. Ocean Grove 2 has selected former club champion Chris Price in its line-up as he makes a welcome return to the Grovers colours.