WESTERN Storm coach Mitch Hills knows his side faces one of the toughest road trips in State League football tomorrow when it travels south to play Lauderdale.
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Hills and most of his former South Launceston teammates who have moved to the Storm this season know the difficult nature of the ground and the conditions - but for their younger and less experienced teammates it will be a new experience.
"I've coached there before and played there the past few years, and it's going to be a real challenge for a new group," he said.
"With the ground that it is, I expect it to be a very hard- contested match, and hopefully we can put up a good fight."
Hills said that with nine or ten players new to TSL level in the group, it would take time for them to adapt to the higher standard of competition.
"It is going to take us some time, and week by week we will work on some of the things we need to improve on as a team and individually," he said.
"We identified a few things from our review on Monday night, and hopefully we can give a better outcome."
Hills said that after two slow starts his side could not afford to face a half-time deficit against the Southern Bombers and was hopeful of a better start.
Jade Child should return to the team after missing the Launceston game, and Logan Barker has been added to the squad after good form in the development league.
Lauderdale was impressive in beating Hobart City in its season- opener, and coach Darren Winter was happy with that performance.
Winter said their form had been good for three quarters but a lapse in the third term had allowed Hobart City to kick seven goals.
"We come up against the premiers from last year, so it's going to be a tough game for us, but we are looking forward to measuring ourselves against the best in the competition from last year," he said.