ROOS WILL PLAY ‘KEEPINGS OFF’ TO HELP STOP SIGGINS
CLARENCE has a plan to suppress the potential damage of the TSL’s most inform player in their season-defining clash with Lauderdale at SkyBus Oval on Saturday and it’s as simple as the childhood game “keepings off”.
The Roos won’t bother with a oneon-one matchup for the TSL’s tallest onballer, and Lauderdale’s towering forward and ruckman Sam Siggins.
Coach Peter Ryan says they will take the simple approach.
“It’s going to be a team thing in making sure we have the ball in hand and that we don’t turn it over like we have the last few times we’ve played them,” Ryan said.
“When we played them at Blundstone (round 10) we had 60 turnovers in the middle part of the ground and that’s just not going to win you games of footy. That was due to their pressure and our inability to make good decisions.
“We’ve worked on it since that game and hopefully we go there and give a better account of ourselves this week.”
Third place on the ladder is up for grabs, with both teams on 28 premiership points, but Lauderdale sits higher in third because of its better percentage, which is a paper-thin 0.33.
Lauderdale star Allen Christensen said a lot was riding on the round 16 contest, with onballers Dylan Fyfe and Ed Stanley, and Devil Fletcher Hooker back to bolster the Bombers.
“It’s a huge game in the context of the season,” Christensen said.
“Both teams know the ramifications if we don’t win. It is probably the biggest Eastern Shore game that has been played in a while.
“This is the position we wanted to be in – we wanted to be fighting for a finals spot and it’s good to be there after the season we had last year.
“To be right in the mix is great for the footy club.”
The return of defender Luke Swinton from suspension gives Clarence’s backline an injection of experience, along with the Roos’ “quarterback” Keegan Wylie and the recently returned Baker Smith from a stint in the VFL.
Ryan is not poring over the remaining roster games with calculator in hand trying to forecast Clarence’s chances of playing finals.
“I’ve had a bit of a look but we’ve got to get past this game,” Ryan said.
“We look at Lauderdale and what we can do there, hopefully tick that one off and we move on to North Launceston next week.
“So it doesn’t get any easier for us.”