The 28-year-old had a hand in his side's first two goals at Windsor Park, bundling a clearance into the arms of Dylan Riley before rifling an acute set shot from the 50m arc over the goal umpire's head.

He finished with two goals and Hudson Medal winner-in-the-waiting Riley five as the Blues bounced back from last week's shock defeat with a 10.12 (72) to 4.8 (32) win.

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"It was a really professional performance," Launceston coach Mitch Thorp said.

"Obviously we had a kick up the bum last week and to the boys' credit we've actually had a great week at the club so the response didn't surprise me at all.

"I'm just so proud of the group to respond the way we did and book ourselves a home prelim, that's a great position to be in as a football club.

"Our under-18s are now on top of the ladder and our development league are on top of the ladder so we're in a really strong position to attack the finals series."

Leading by just eight points early in the third term, the Blues kicked the next seven goals to kill off the contest before the Demons added the last two of the game.

VFL recruit Tim Jones finished with 17 touches, nine tackles and a goal in his Launceston debut but it was the performance of the Blues' young back six that had Thorp most excited.

Jacob Boyd continued his upwards trajectory and had good help from Ryan Tyrrell, Miller Hodge and Isaac Chugg.

"North Hobart jumped us a little bit but we worked through it in a mature way - our leaders had really calm heads," Thorp said.

"When we started a little bit slow it was our defenders who rebounded and rallied and really got us going so their growth and their synergy as a back six and seven is a really important one for the footy club because they're all young men and they're not going anywhere.

"They're all 20 years old and love the place and it's so pleasing to see those guys do well."

Tim Auckland sat out the second half of the game as a precaution, leaving Launceston's Mr Fix-it Jamieson House to battle Harry Ireland and Jacob Steele in the ruck.

The Blues have just one more fixture - a trip to Richmond Oval next Saturday - before a bye and a preliminary final, paving the way for some fascinating selection discussions.

Midfielder Tim Bristow and defender Bowen Pearce will be available for selection next week while 100-game ruckmen Joe Groenewegen and Hamish Leedham are both waiting in the wings.

"We're at the point of the year now where we need to manage our list," Thorp said.

"Next week presents a really interesting opportunity with Joe Groenewegen now having played three games and Tim a little bit sore where we can probably have Joe play.

"Next week will be a strong contest down at Richmond so we're going to have to be really clear on our decision making at match committee.

"We've got some real decisions to make on where we want to enter the finals series."

At Kingston, Clarence dropped a good chance to cement its finals spot after Kingborough made it three wins on the trot.

The Tigers overcame a last-term deficit against the breeze to secure a gutsy 7.15 (57) to 7.12 (54) win and move within percentage of the top four.

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