Demons hoping reinforcements can fix fade-outs

A FOUR-quarter performance continues to elude a young North Hobart side, but coach Richard Robinson is hoping three key inclusions could help turn the tide.

The Demons, who languish in last spot on the TSL ladder, have shown they can compete for a half of football against the best sides in the competition, but second half fade-outs have resulted in blowout results in recent weeks.

It doesn’t get much easier today — a date with an improving Lauderdale on its home patch — but the visitors will be bolstered by the return of two key talls and an impressive teenager who will play his first club game for the year.

Bailey Walker and Colin Garland, who finally passed a test on his reconstructed knee on Thursday, will give the Demons some much-needed height, while Mariner Baxter Norton provides the classy ball use.

The three additions alone won’t prove the difference against the Bombers, but they give Robinson more flexibility.

“We have a massive challenge against Lauderdale, we haven’t beaten them down there for seven or eight years,” Robinson said.

“We are craving a fourquarter performance, which we haven’t had, that’s something we are striving for this week.

“It is a fortress down there, it doesn’t matter who goes down there you are always in for a tough environment. The way they play, it suits that type of ground.

“With [Phil] Bellchambers out, we feel if we can stop them at the source a bit, their wingers on the outside have been good. If we can lock down on [Nat] Franklin it stops it getting out to the runners and you give yourself some chance.”

After a slow start to the year Lauderdale is stringing some solid form together, with impressive victories against Glenorchy and Launceston.

However rebounding defender Josh McGuinness said the team has been lacking the killer instinct to completely put opposition sides away.

“We are trying to focus on when we do get a lead or take a lead into halftime or threequarter time, we put our foot down and go on with it,” McGuinness said.

“It’s more a mentality, our senior players need to drive that on the field … when you get a lead you can fall back and feel comfortable.

“But our mentality needs to be ‘ we need to finish off this game’.”