Willing’s ready for a Magpie onslaught

IT is shaping as a dress rehearsal for the SFL second semi-final next month, and Lindisfarne coach Daniel Willing says his Two Blues need to bring their best against reigning premier Claremont at Abbotsfield Park today.

Lindisfarne, second on the ladder, has regained three key players for the match with third-placed Claremont.

Back are key defender Justin Howlett, small forward Tom Roberts and forwardmidfielder Michael Clark.

“It’s good to get key players back,” Willing said.

“We’ve had injuries right throughout the year and we’ve still got a couple of blokes out.

“It’s nice to get good players back in when we are playing good opposition.”

Lindisfarne has lost only to New Norfolk this season and Willing says his team is going “OK”.

“We’re really young — much younger than we were last year — so we’ve had some inconsistencies, but we’ve also played some pretty sharp footy,” he said.

“We got a bit of a footy lesson in patches against New Norfolk.

“I thought we played quite well in patches, but they were more consistent over the four quarters and got us.

“We know we need to play well against a team we are most likely going to play against in a big final early on in the finals series.”

Claremont went down to Lindisfarne by 27 points when they met at Anzac Park in Round 7.

Claremont coach David Hunt said the Magpies looked forward to the rematch.

“The rivalry is pretty hot,” Hunt said.

“There’s a long history between the two clubs and last year’s grand final added an extra layer to it.

“Getting them at our home ground is exciting for all the supporters to see the big clash again between the arch rivals.”

In other games, Huonville is at home to Dodges Ferry, Sorell hosts Brighton, and Hobart meets Cygnet at the TCA ground.