BATTLING BOMBERS PLACING FAITH IN BLACKBURN
IT’S crunch time for Lauderdale heading into its clash with Launceston at SkyBus Oval on Saturday and coach Daniel Willing needs a hero to step up and be the difference against the TSL’s reigning premier.
That’s where full-forward Michael Blackburn could come to the rescue after kicking 4.3 against Clarence last Saturday with his hit-up marking and packwork.
He’s got a longer run-up than Pat Cummins but that’s a part of what makes him special.
“He’s had an outstanding season but we haven’t done him a lot of favours with the way we’ve delivered the ball to him,” Willing said. “When I coached him at Lindisfarne he was more a hit-up mark player but his ability to have an impact with his contested marks has been really good – he took a couple of beauties last week. He’s got an awkward kicking style but he doesn’t miss many chances.
“We’d love him to be able to kick an extra 10m because he might have finished with six or seven at the weekend. And his ability to bring vibe and culture to your footy club is unbelievable.”
Fourth on the ladder, the Bombers have put themselves under pressure in the finals race.
“The Clarence game was really important because of the way the ladder looks,” Willing said.
“Because of our poor start, we’ve had to win certain games to stay in contention.
“With our first game against Launceston we could have gone 1-4 but we beat them. Clarence at Blundstone we needed to win to stay in touch and we won. We went up to UTas needing to beat North Launceston and we did that.
“Then we come to the most important game of the year so far [Clarence last Saturday] and we couldn’t get it done.
“We couldn’t get our game going well at any stage. There were small periods where it looked like a Lauderdale game but for the most part Clarence looked on top and even when we tried a few things it didn’t work.”
Lauderdale is now focused on Launceston, which has only lost one game this season – to Lauderdale at SkyBus in round six.
“We’ve got the toughest challenge in footy this week but we understand our best is good enough to challenge anyone,” Willing said.
Launceston will have to do it without captain Jobi Harper, while the Bombers regained ruckman Haydn Smith and key forward Tyler Martin.