DEVONPORT have plenty to play for when they take on North Launceston in their State League game at Devonport Oval on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Magpies have a tenuous hold on fifth spot by a handful of percentage from Hobart City, who host the Western Storm at North Hobart Oval.
The Coastal Magpies need to win to maintain their spot in the top five, and coach Mitch Thorp will have his charges fired up after a less than impressive performance last week when they lowered their colours to the Western Storm.
‘‘It was frustrating last week – the last month has been fairly solid but I think we probably let our guard down, and credit to the Storm – they threw the kitchen sink at us and were too good on the day,’’ Thorp said.
‘‘We have North Lonnie this week and we will want to sharpen up fairly quickly, otherwise it will be a tough day at the office.’’
Thorp believed Devonport failed the mental challenge against the Storm and his players thought they were ‘‘going a bit better than they were’’.
‘‘Footy is a great game and can give you a kick up the bum very quickly, and it gave us a great reality check, but the good thing is we are still in the five and we have to forget about that quickly and focus on North Lonnie, who are in very good form.’’
North Launceston is coming off a road trip victory over Clarence, and coach Zane Littlejohn has said his players are keen to exact revenge on the Pies for their TSL defeat at Devonport Oval last season.
Littlejohn paid credit to his side for the way they withstood intense pressure from Clarence last week at Bellerive.
‘‘There are always areas for us to improve and we spoke about our consistency under that pressure and being strong inside the contest and making sure our efficiency by foot is high, especially with the last kick inside 50,’’ he said.
‘‘We expect their pressure to be just as good this week and for them to bounce back after last week’s result, and the ground will be a bit tighter and probably heavier, so it will be important to be strong and clean over the footy.’’