As if either side needed reminding that a seemingly unbeatable South Launceston awaits, Saturday’s preliminary finalists will need to win at Youngtown Oval to reach the grand final.
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Scottsdale and Bracknell have been tough to split in the past four seasons, with neither side snatching an away win since 2014.
A win over Scottsdale in last year’s qualifying final at Hillwood hints at a Redlegs advantage, but Bracknell’s 86-point loss to the reigning premier last week and the Magpies’ well-documented form could swing the needle back the other way.
Bracknell coach Gary Shipton is under no illusions his side will need to bounce back hard if it is to reach a third-straight grand final.
“Last week we didn’t play as a team, so this week we’ve got to do that if we want to take the next step,” the veteran forward said.
“If we go about doing our own thing we’ll get rolled quite easily so we need to make sure we’re on the ball and sticking to our structures and game plan.
“We’ve just got to change our mindset from last week and move on from that.”
Shipton said he would consider making personnel changes to try and avoid a repeat of last week.
“We know we can dish up a better performance that what we did,” he said.
“There’s a big thing at the end of this to have a crack at South, but our main and only focus is to beat Scottsdale and they’re a very good outfit.
“(Scottsdale coach Geoff Mohr) has got them going in the right direction and believing in what they’re doing so we’ve got to be on our guard.”
Midfield star Joseph Robinson looks likely to be the only omission from the Magpies’ side after collecting an injury early in the Hillwood win.
Robinson has been one of the Pies’ best this season but Mohr backed his side to cover the loss.
“He’s probably one of our better players in the team so missing him might hurt us a little bit but we’ve got other blokes who can step up,” Mohr said.
“We’ve been challenged in that way in the second part of the year and we’ve had to bring blokes in and they’ve done the job for us.”
Key forward Lee Nichols was held goalless for just the fifth time this season last Saturday, but the Magpies still found ways to kick a winning score.
Julian Rattray provided a handy foil for Brady Gee with a season-high bag of four, while Mohr snuck forward to kick two.
“That’s probably been one of the bonuses for us all year, we haven’t really relied on one person to kick all our goals,” Mohr said.
“The good thing about our side and a hard thing for opposition sides is who do you try and stop? If you stop one, someone else will bob up and kick goals.”