Sitting in sixth with an even win-loss ledger, BRACKNELL coach Andrew Philpott has declared Saturday's Scottsdale clash as must-win.
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Branding his side's loss to Rocherlea as frustrating after a late Tigers comeback, the Redlegs' leader has been looking at Scottsdale's performances.
"They are going well. It's a must-win for us, I guess it is for everybody but it is as simple as that, we need to win this game," he said.
"It's at our ground, so obviously that's good but they will be ready to go. It's the biggest game of the year for us."
Philpott will regain ruckman Carl Rodger and Jack Ross for the clash as Scottsdale come in off the back of a devastating rebound win against University.
Daniel Viney kicked seven and should be firing again this week as the Magpies occupy fifth spot on the ladder.
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Maintaining their undefeated record in a strong win last week, DELORAINE are looking to continue their form against Bridgenorth in the second top-of-the-table clash in as many weeks.
Both sides have featured a strong mix of youth and experience so far this season, with the Roos playing five 17-year-olds last week.
"Looking at their list, they've had stable veterans for the last five years in [Rohan] Sergeant, [Jake] Rice and [Matt] Zanetto, so we are looking to combat their use on the ball and also [Brady] Demeijer," coach Lochy Dornauf said.
Young gun Daniel Van Noord will return for the Parrots as coach Gary Shipton praised his side for working on what they needed to ahead of the Deloraine clash.
"Obviously they are the favourites to take it out, so hopefully we can put some pressure on them," he said.
"Also, the weather might come into the game a bit as well."
Coming off a 'rewarding' win before their bye last week, OLD SCOTCH are looking to continue their form against University of Tasmania.
Facing Rocherlea, Bridgenorth and Scottsdale in opening weeks, the Thistles clash against their first division-one side so far, regaining Ryan Worn and Ricky Evans at the expense of Tom Pedley.
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"We are looking to keep building on what we've started this year, they've obviously been struggling a bit but we can't control that, so we are looking to keep improving as the season goes on," Old Scotch coach Brayley Coombes said.
Despite results not going their way as yet, UTAS coach Brodie Tiernan is continuing to see improvement in his players and is eager to use this weekend as another way to develop the young group.
"They obviously beat Scottsdale and Scottsdale beat us quite easily, so we are under no illusions that it's going to be tough again," he said.
"We are going to have the same group next year, so we obviously need to learn as much as we can from playing these sides that are playing well and hopefully a few of the younger guys can keep learning."
ROCHERLEA have been forced to ring in the changes as they take on Meander Valley.
Jacob Hawkins, Cooper Praciak and Sam Suter will miss but the Tigers regain Jordan Cousens and Luke Richards as coach Andrew Cox-Goodyer is another looking to blood his younger crew.
"We will be inexperienced, but I think we will be right, it will be another learning curve for the boys who are still getting a few games under their belt," he said.
Impressed with his side's pressure last weekend, Meander Valley's Damian Rhind is ready to take on yet another premier division outfit in what could be a wet-weather contest.
"We look forward to playing the premier division clubs. It gives us an opportunity to play against some better players and learn some things on the weekend," he said.