Border Mail |
NORTH Albury coach Jason Akermanis has an Anzac Day warning: the Hoppers are still nowhere near their best.
The new premiership contender crushed Wangaratta by 117 points on Saturday to set up a mouth-watering Anzac Day blockbuster against Albury on Thursday.
And Akermanis lit the first fuse ahead of the battle, letting the Tigers know his team was coming to the Sportsground to break Albury’s recent stranglehold on the fixture.
“We’re nowhere near where we’re going to be,” Akermanis declared after Saturday’s thrashing.
“It’s going to take time and this game was just another step,” he said.
“We’re going to compete on Thursday against a team that has had a really good period against us. No doubt everyone respects them.
“We will have to play our best footy.
“We expect them to be at their best and we to be at our best, too.
“It should be a cracking game.”
Akermanis said the Hoppers had to improve on their last outing against a competition heavyweight to be any chance of winning this contest.
North Albury pushed reigning premier Yarrawonga for just over a half this month before falling by 45 points.
“We were disappointing against good opposition,” said Akermanis, who starred in Saturday’s win.
“But we’ve worked on a couple of things — we were more efficient and clean under pressure.
“I have a big smile because we’ve improved.”
The 2001 Brownlow medallist, who admits he’s fallen in love with the Ovens and Murray this season, said the Hoppers weren’t worried about Albury’s form.
“We can’t control what they do, but we certainly can do what we want to do,” he said.
