Shaun Muller says the bye “couldn’t come quick enough” for his Old Scotch side as it looks to register its maiden win on Saturday.
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Lachie McFadzean, Josh Matthews and Alec Fotheringham will return for the Thistles as they look to regroup from losses to Lilydale, Evandale and St Pats with a win against Meander Valley.
“When I looked at the roster I thought we’ve certainly got our work cut out,” Muller said of his side’s opening three rounds.
“But saying that we want to set ourselves at the pointy end of the ladder, so we’ve got to beat teams around us and above us.”
The Suns are in a similar boat having lost all four games so far, with coach David Manktelow likely to promote Luke Reid for his first senior game of the year.
“We don’t take any notice that they haven’t won a game yet,” Manktelow said of Old Scotch.
“We still put them up in the top bracket.”
A tackling machine awaits OLD LAUNCESTONIANS when they travel to Lilydale.
The Blues have fallen to 2-2 after successive losses and will face a huge challenge in the form of the reigning premier and the defensive shackles of Reuben Rothwell.
“He was unbelievable (last round), he’s got a bit of a rugby background and when he lays a tackle he lays a tackle,” Demons coach Colin Lockhart said.
“They’re always wrapped up - really fair tackles.”
Lockhart also backed ex-coach Thane Bardenhagen to return to his best after a quiet start to the season.
ST PATS and East Coast look set to play out the match of the round as both sides look to inflict a maiden loss.
The home side are sitting top of the table with a percentage of 380.60, but Swans coach Ned Hyland isn’t one to flinch.
“They’ve had a really good start to the season but I think we’re more than up to the challenge,” he said.
“I think on a smaller ground pressure acts are going to be key for both sides.”
Clay Nettlefold, Jarrah Burns, Logan Wise and Adin Yaxley will all return for BRIDPORT’s trip to Perth.
Seagulls coach Adam Howlett said his side had spent a few weeks planning for the game.
“We’ve set ourselves to make finals... but we’ve got to show we can beat more-fancied opponents,” he said.
Magpies coach Damian Rhind will freshen his side up with a few changes after a “taxing” trip to St Helens.
“We definitely took a few positives and learned a lot - we’ve gone about changing a couple of things this week as to how we can finish out games,” he said.
Running out four quarters against EVANDALE is Alan Perrin’s challenge to Uni-Mowbray after a 200-point loss to St Pats.
“We were beaten convincingly last week against a side that’s probably not as strong as Evandale, so we really have a big challenge in front of us,” Perrin said.