LADDER positions count for nothing as cross-town State League rivals North Launceston and Western Storm prepare to do battle in their Anzac Day clash at Aurora Stadium under lights tonight.
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The Northern Bombers sit fourth on the ladder with a 2-1 record while the Storm finds itself ninth and yet to record a victory.
North coach Zane Littlejohn likened the TSL rivalry between the two clubs to that of traditional AFL enemies like a Collingwood versus Carlton or Essendon match.
"They will be fired up whether they are 3-0 or 0-3," he said.
"It's North versus the Storm and we've played them five times last year, and in every game both teams came out with a great intent which makes for a great game of footy and we will see that again on Saturday night."
The Bombers are coming off a one-point loss to Lauderdale and Littlejohn said that would continue to teach his coaching group about how to handle different situations during a game with a new-look squad this season.
"We have to make sure as a coaching group that we don't rest on the laurels or last year and assume that all our players know what to do in different situations.
"So we've gone back and continue to work with the players on what our plans are if we find ourselves in this or that scenario.
"When we won by a point over Lonnie, we learned some stuff and when we lost by a point, we learned some stuff as well."
WESTERN Storm coach Mitch Hills knows his side needs a win but denied that it was a case of panic stations.
"We've been in a position to win all three games so far and we've been working hard to try to fix that so this week will be the perfect chance to make amends for last year and on the big stage of Anzac Day," he said.
"Last week at Burnie was a much-improved performance for us and for the first three quarters we controlled the game down there in hostile territory and difficult conditions. We felt as though we executed our game plan really well but all that doesn't matter because we didn't come away with the points and we let ourselves down in the final quarter.
"We have to learn from that and continue to chip away at the things that are letting us down."
Hills said the focus was all about learning and developing the team at the moment and his players knew if they continued to get better in those areas where they were deficient they would win games.
