HOBART CHARGERS READY TO SHOW WHO’S BOSS

SUNDAY’S top-of-the-table SEABL clash is an opportunity for the Hobart Chargers to stamp their authority on the South Conference, according to forward Lewis Thomas.

The Chargers are coming off their first home loss of the season to Nunawading last Friday night, a defeat that saw them joined atop the South by this week’s opponent Ballarat.

Despite the disappointment of dropping points in front of home fans, Thomas insists the group is not rocked by the performance, and instead has quickly turned its attention to the showdown against the Miners.

“It was pretty disappointing playing at home and losing, but you can’t win every time, as long as you play hard, which we did,” Thomas said.

“We fought back in the second half and had a chance to win at the end, but things just didn’t go our way. We struggled in the first half, they did a really good job defensively against us but we turned it around in the second half and cut the lead from over 10 back to three at the end of the third quarter.

“We had a chance to win at the end of the game but just had a few turnovers in the last minute and a half. It is tough to win a game when it is close if you turn the ball over.

“But we are focused on Sun- day, we will be ready to go. We have to stamp our authority on to our conference and getting a win this weekend is really important.”

The clash will unfold at the Kingborough Sports Centre — the first time the Chargers have played a game at the sta- dium since winning the 2000 conference final.

Thomas said the squad will train on the court tomorrow to get used to the surroundings, having turned the Derwent Entertainment Centre into a fortress until it was breached by Nunawading.

“In the end we are still at home, we are not the ones travelling,” he said of the move away from the DEC.

“We will have our practice on Saturday getting ready to go and I think we will be fine. The hoops are still the same size, the court is still the same.”