Key Roo to be targeted
STOPPING one of the most mercurial players in the State League will be mission No. 1 today for Lauderdale — a task the club concedes has proved fruitless in recent years.
The Bombers travel to Blundstone Arena striving to derail the Clarence juggernaut in the battle for the annual Speak UP! Stay ChatTY Cup.
And central to the visitors’ chances will be shutting down Roos star Jake Cox, who has almost single-handedly sunk the Bombers on several occasions in past meetings.
Lauderdale assistant Clinton Brown said while the entire focus can’t go on to one player, the team must find a way to curb the influence of the lethal left-footer.
“They’ve arguably got the best player in the comp in Jake Cox and he is one who continuously gives us trouble,” Brown said.
“We need to try and shut him down, but there are other guys who have stepped up and are playing good footy, they have Brady Jones back in the team and I rate him very highly as well.
“We went in with the same game plan with Taylor Whitford last week and he cut us to pieces in the first quarter and we had to shut him down after that, which we did.
“Coxy is a different one, he has unbelievable goal sense and skills, he has a good burst of speed from stoppages, but how we actually shut him down I don’t know, we haven’t done that successfully yet.
“We have a couple of plans for him this weekend.”
The contest looms as a crunch battle for both sides, with Clarence able to sew up a top-three spot with a win while the Bombers need the points to remain firmly in the mix for the double chance.
Lauderdale will be bolstered by the return of Thor Boscott, while the hosts have made two changes from last week with Tyson Hanslow and Keegan Wylie coming in for Ashton Dickenson and Trent Hope.
Clarence coach Jeromey Webberley said his side will return fire if the opposition targets Cox, believing he has the versatility to have an influence regardless of the attention he receives.
“He has probably gotten hold of every team in the competition at some stage, the last couple of games it has been Lauderdale,” Webberley said.
“There is no doubt they will put some time into him and we have to think about how we can expose them the other way.”