BLUES COACH DECLARES HIS BOYS CAN MAKE IT

THE jostling for position inside the TSL’s top five will hit fever pitch in the final round on Saturday, but Launceston coach Sam Lonergan believes his team can meet runaway minor premier North Launceston in the grand final.

Lonergan’s team stormed through the final series last year from fifth on the ladder until it was finally stopped by Lauderdale in the preliminary final.

Lonergan, who will have key defender Chris Savage back from injury to meet Glen- orchy in a battle of second against third at Windsor Park, is confident Launceston can make the September 15 final.

“I had a really young group last year and finishing fifth meant we had a really tough finals campaign and we had to travel,” Lonergan said.

“We have got a slightly more mature group this year. We’ve added some depth in terms of age and we’ve got an opportunity to play some home finals. So the group that performed extremely well last year, I believe this year we can go one step further.”

Lonergan believes this year’s Blues are more battlehardened.

“We’re more resilient, and resilience is one of those things that sometimes lacks in the younger generation — you’ve got to go through hard times to experience how to work your way through it,” he said. “Finals games are tough and contested, and it doesn’t go your way for the whole two hours. Our guys have built some resilience and we’re ready to go.”

The return of Savage could not have come at a better time.

“There are likely to be two changes this week. We are still waiting for two guys to come up from injury,” Lonergan said.

“A couple of guys have pulled up a bit sore and now we need to be tactical in terms of what the next four weeks looks like and how we manage the group through that. Chris missed last week. He’s a cool, calm, collected head who has the ability to communicate very effectively during the game.

“So when you’ve got some young players around him, he’s got the ability to bring those guys back into focusing on what we need to focus on when the chips are down.”

Clarence takes on Tigers at Blundstone Arena, while Lauderdale has a mountain to climb against North Launceston at Lauderdale Oval.