Lauderdale assistant coach Clint Brown has stirred the pot and tipped his hat to Launceston in the same sentence ahead of the TSL's match of the round.
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With only one loss to their name heading into the final six rounds, Lauderdale return to Windsor Park on Saturday for the first time since recording a topsy-turvy three-goal win in round eight.
Brown said his side would tag Jobi Harper - arguably Launceston's best when the sides met in round two - and credited the Blues as being the premiership favourites' toughest test yet.
"Launceston's always the team that we worry about," Brown said.
"They've got a very deep midfield ...[Brodie] Palfreyman has slid out to a wing there now, so that just shows the depth they've got.
"You throw Dylan Riley back in the team to give Mitch [Thorp] a bit of assistance up forward and they're a very dangerous side.
"There's a bit of bad blood there with Launceston over the last couple of years and we certainly take that into every game when we come up against them, but at this point in time we think they're the best side we've played against."
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
The Southern Bombers took the luxury of naming Collingwood VFL forward Nick Dodge for his first game of the year, and listed Josh McGuinness at half-back despite the under-25 state captain suffering a serious concussion in last week's win over North Hobart.
Brown had told reporters earlier in the day that McGuinness would not play.
Thorp welcomed tackling enthusiast Jack Donnellan back from injury, with Ben Killalea also named for his 10th game of the season.
The 30-year-old said said the one-versus-three clash would give a good indication of how much his group had galvanised since the start of the season.
"Lauderdale are obviously the yardstick," Thorp said.
"We had two really good contests with them earlier in the year.
"We've definitely improved since then and we've got all our personnel back, so it's hard to put a gauge on how much we have improved but we'll soon see on the weekend.
"They obviously get Nick Dodge back into the side who's arguably one of the best small forwards in the competition, so we'll have our hands full but we're looking forward to the contest."
Once considered a draft chance, Dodge represented Tasmania against the WAFL in 2016 and captained the state's under-18s.
The 22-year-old will provide the Southern Bombers with yet another explosive small forward, and according to Brown, inject a bit of "comic relief" while he's doing it.
"Dodgey's a pretty funny bloke and the boys love him," Brown said.
"But he's got exceptional speed, he's a goal kicking machine so he's going to give us a little bit more attacking flair through the midfield forward that we probably lack.
"We've got [Alex] Saunders and Henry [Kerinaiua] that provide that, and to get another one that can go through there probably complements the Phils [Bellchambers], Nats [Franklin] and your Bryces [Walsh] that are the more inside players."
Lauderdale have won the past three fixtures between the two sides.
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