Champions prepared for a North Hobart scare

THEY are the TSL’s reigning champion, but the Northern Bombers have fallen into the trap before — not quite being 100 per cent prepared for the tenacity of North Hobart.

North Launceston coach Taylor Whitford said his men would not make that mistake today when they meet the emerging Demons in their season opener at UTAS Stadium in Launceston.

North Hobart put the frighteners up North at the same venue last year when only an 11th-hour rally got the home side out of jail.

This time, however, they will be prepared.

“They do give sides a scare and I think that will be another trending pattern with North Hobart,” Whitford said.

“You don’t know what sides are going to bring.

“We haven’t seen any sides play yet but North is probably the scarier one to get first up.

“They’ve got some great talent and depth to that talent and they’ve got all of their Devils players as well.”

The Demons also added returning VFL players in Jack Sandric and Baxter Norton to their talent pool.

“They are going to play a fast exciting brand of footy and we’re going to have to be prepared for them — we probably haven’t been prepared well enough in the past for their style,” Whitford said.

“We understand from past experiences what they are probably going to do against us — they’re going to play oneon-one and they don’t shy away from that.

“As long as we can win the contest we should be in the game.”