Thorp fast to shrug off talk of flag favouritism

AFTER smashing Glenorchy in Round 1 and downing premier North Launceston in Round 2, Launceston is flying on top of the TSL ladder but coach Mitch Thorp says it is too early to tag the Blues with premiership favouritism.

Thorp’s only concern is getting past the Tigers at the Twin Ovals today — the third instalment of the 12-round homeand-away series.

“We’ve only played eight quarters of footy,” the coach, pictured, said.

“We are pleased with our start but we’ve got areas of our game where we can improve, particularly our entry inside 50 and our efficiency in front of goal.

“In our first two weeks we’ve kicked a number of behinds so we need to tidy that area of our game up.”

The Tigers sat out the opening round with the bye and in their opening match were pipped by North Hobart in a thriller at the Twins.

“I thought they [Tigers] had the better of the game for three quarters,” Thorp said.

“They’ve got some really damaging players — Kieran Lovell around the ball and Luke Graham ahead of the footy was really dangerous.

“We know it’s going to be a tough contest and we are setting ourselves for that.”

Launceston is producing what every coach dreams about — an even spread of contributors.

Rising above the pack though are Blues onballer Jake Hinds and skipper Jobi Harper, and defenders Jake Smith and Jamieson House.

“It hasn’t been left to any one player to carry the load, and that’s what you need,” Thorp said.

“If you rely on one or two players it makes the load too hard but if you have contributors across the ground it makes life easier.”