Demons face daunting test of progress

NORTH Hobart has improved “a hell of a lot” this TSL season, says assistant-coach Aaron Vince, and the Demons will find out exactly how much when they face premiership favourite North Launceston at Invermay Park today.

With two games remaining, the Demons are still in the wooden spoon position at the bottom of the ladder. Vince believes that spot and a 2-14 winloss ratio belies their progress.

“You could look at the wins and losses, but if you compare it to last year we have improved a hell of a lot,” he said.

“We’ve been in a lot more games for a lot longer this year, but we’ve still got a very young group and we’ve got to build consistency. We will continue to build in our last two games and we want to finish on a high, that’s for sure.”

North Hobart gave the Northern Bombers an almighty scare last time they met in Launceston at UTas Stadium. The Dees led deep in timeon only to be pipped at the post.

That, and the return of Devils quartet Patrick Walker, Will Peppin, Jye Menzie and Jake Steele, give Vince hope of another strong performance, this time next door at cricket legend Ricky Ponting’s old stomping ground.

“We performed pretty well up there last time we played them,” he said.

“Col Garland kicked seven and we only lost by 11 points. We will go in with a bit of confidence.”

Vince said North Hobart had “experienced the highs and lows of footy” over the past few weeks.

“Beating Launceston was great for the group and then we had a really disappointing performance against the Tigers,” he said.

“We’ve had the bye so we’ve been able to put a bit of time into what we can do against North Launceston.”