Bendigo Advertiser | SOUTH Bendigo coach Steven Oliver says last week’s win over Gisborne doesn’t fill the Bloods with any more confidence than they had going into that game.
The Bloods have always had the belief they are on the improve and their expectations in taking on Kangaroo Flat on Saturday in the Bendigo Football League are no different to last week’s game against Gisborne, which they won by 61 points to notch their first victory of the season
“We’ve been improving every week, but our expectations internally have always been the same and nothing changes this week,” Oliver said on Friday.
“If we stick to the gameplan, do the things that we know are successful and treat Kangaroo Flat with respect... we were on the bottom of the ladder last year, we’ve had one win this year, so we need to keep working hard.
“We’re a side that has to play without passengers over four quarters and if we do that, we believe we can be competitive with any team.”
The Bloods played four quarters of pressure football against Gisborne last week, while the backline led by Adrian Coad, Jake Smythe and Jake Miller did a staunch job in restricting the Bulldogs to just four goals from 45 inside 50 entries.
In fine conditions, South Bendigo held Gisborne to a score of just 30 - the lowest the Bloods had kicked against them in their past 26 games.
“We’ve been really happy with our back half,” Oliver said.
“We’ve tried a few through there, and we now know we’ve got some options down back.”
While the Bloods carry winning form into Saturday’s clash at Bendigo Mazda Oval, the Roos have lost their past two games, in which they’ve kicked scores of just 50 and 45 against Sandhurst and Eaglehawk.
The Roos’ side includes Ryley Barrack, Jayke Barrack and Andrew Cussen, who played with the Bloods last year.
The Roos this week tweeted out a club injury update that featured 12 players, the latest key addition to the list being James Saville.
“We’ve had injuries since the start of the season, but I still believe our best football stacks up with the best in the competition. We just need to be prepared to hunt and defend for four quarters if we are to meet our goals this season,” Roos coach Jason Stevens said.