Shepp News |
Benalla coach Luke Morgan says Mooroopna’s greatest strength is the depth of its playing list.
However, it’s the depth of his own club that will be put to the test when the Saints head to Mooroopna Recreation Reserve tomorrow.
The Saints will meet the Cats shorn of four of their most influential players.
Sam Martyn, Lachie Smith and Jake Pallpratt have been selected to represent AFL Victoria Country’s under-19 team on Sunday, while leading goal-kicker Nick Warnock has a hamstring injury.
The home side will be without Daniel Lewis, who will represent the Vic One side.
‘‘The ladder positions are starting to sort themselves out a little bit and it’s probably a big game for us in terms of sticking with the top two or going back with the rest,’’ Morgan said.
‘‘(The Cats) are pretty capable all over the ground, they’ve got good runners and they’ve got very good depth in their players.’’
Softening the blow is the availability of VFL ruckman Will Sullivan.
Sullivan, who spent three seasons on West Coast’s rookie list, has played one game for the Saints this season in between his Werribee commitments, but a split round means he will help combat dominant Mooroopna big man Mark Blake.
‘‘It was very important getting him against Mark Blake, but Jack Ellis has been good for us and Jack will start in the ruck,’’ Morgan said.
‘‘Will’s been playing pretty well at Werribee, he actually got best-on-ground in the development league last weekend, and he’ll play in the ruck and down forward, which will help us match up against Blake.’’
Shepparton Swans’ win against Mansfield last week forced Mooroopna out of the top six.
Cats coach Blake Campbell said his side was starting to show signs on the training track, which was being reflected on game day, and he did not expect the changes to have much impact on either side.
‘‘We’ve got enough talls in the side to really rework things around and to try and keep the same system in place with our forward line set-up,’’ Campbell said.
‘‘We probably don’t have anyone in the side that’s as mobile as Lewis, but we still think we’ve got enough talls in there to play a similar style that we’ve been playing.
‘‘They’ve built a pretty stable side, I have a feeling that they’ve got a lot of confidence over there and I reckon they can accommodate potentially a few players missing.’’
Joe Sullivan will return to the side, but Iggy Vallejo misses out with a heel injury and one of Jason Roe, Jake Dignan and Karl Lohde could yet be unavailable.
