‘ZERO’ FEAR FACTOR FOR TIGERS

THE Tigers are primed for their topof-the-ladder clash with Launceston at Windsor Park on Saturday in what could be a preview of the TSL grand final and a mouth-watering head-tohead match-up between the two best midfielders in Kieran Lovell and Jobi Harper.

Tigers coach Trent Baumeler and Launceston mentor Mitch Thorp are torn between hard tags on each other’s most damaging onballers, or just let them have at it.

Either way, the round 15 match shapes as one of the best home-andaway contests of all time and a window into what we can expect in the post-season.

“If you look at their midfield as a whole where they’ve got Jobi, Fletcher Seymour, Brodie Palfreyman against Lovell, Lachy Clifford, Ed Cole and Riley Ashlin, around the contest it is going to be really exciting to see those players go at it,” Baumeler said.

“To be able to see Jobi and Kieran go at it, Cole and Seymour, and ‘Cliffy’ and Palfreyman go at it, that’s going to be really exciting.

“We always say what happens in the middle of the ground, and in and around the contest, has a big bearing on the end result and these are two Agrade midfields, so it will be great to watch.”

As if this game wasn’t enough of a final preview, the two meet again at Windsor Park in round 20, the penultimate home-and-away round.

Baumeler stopped short of saying his side was confident about this weekend but said playing at the Blues’ home ground was not a concern.

“It is a tricky ground to play and win at, but in terms of a fear factor, it’s zero. There’s definitely a high respect,” Baumeler said.

“We need to play the way we want to play and that is really important.

“We don’t want to get too much inside our head about what Launceston do and how they go about it and what their record is, because you can build it up and it can play tricks on your own brain.

“We are approaching it like we approach every week – have a strong focus at training about taking away their strengths and honing in on us and what our strengths are and what we need to do.”

Thorp has done his homework on the Tigers and he likes what he sees in his rivals.

“We play two different styles – they are a dominant clearance and contested marks side and they are number one for hit-outs to advantage,” Thorp said.

“Their ruckmen give their midfielders first use, they kick it inside 50 and they mark it.

“We are more transition-based with kicks and marks around the ground in an uncontested way, so two very different sides but they are a very formidable opponent.”