About a dozen players will get their first taste of one of the TSL's best rivalries when North Launceston travels to Lauderdale on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The combatants of three grand finals between 2017 and 2019 both have new faces this season and will be equally eager to straighten up after 1-2 starts to the season.
The Northern Bombers have named their ninth debutant of the season - ex-Tamar Valley Demons junior Brandon Leary - in a side that features eight players with five or fewer senior games to their name.
"The boys are excited," North Launceston skipper Jay Foon said.
"Some of the fellas have never experienced playing there before which will be an eye-opener, but the boys are really looking forward to getting down there and getting a good game in because we need it heading it into the bye.
"It's pretty big crunch match for us - we either go into the bye 2-2 or 1-3 - so it's a pretty important game."
The Bombers have made four changes with Dan Withers and Angus Jefferies (both ankle injuries), Oscar Van Dam and Matthew Cossins going out.
Five-time flag-winner Jack Avent and Devils wingman Ryley Sanders return, while Tom Donnelly is back from making his VFL debut with North Melbourne.
Lining up against AFL forward Josh Jenkins in a 79-point defeat to Geelong, Donnelly collected eight disposals and held his own on a tough day for defenders.
The 21-year old returns to add height to the Bombers' forward line while last week's debutant Theo Ives keeps his spot.
"They've all come in and played their role," Foon said of the Bombers' younger brigade.
"We don't expect anyone to stand out, we just want them to come in and play their role and experience senior footy and hopefully they can develop into good senior players for us."
MORE FOOTBALL: Devils girls flying towards first finals series
The Southern Bombers have made two changes to the side that lost to Glenorchy last round with Josh Williams (broken nose) in for his first game of the year and Sam Tilley back from Devils.
Lauderdale coach Daniel Willing said his players were hungry to produce good footy after below-par efforts the past two weeks.
"We've been pretty inconsistent to be honest - we had a good win round one and the last two weeks we haven't been able to play consistently the way we want to play," Willing said.
"There's obviously a rivalry been built there over the years ... if you look at [North's] top-end talent they're still as good as anyone in the competition so I'd be expecting a pretty hard, tough, contested game of footy."
Lauderdale shot out of the blocks with a bang, downing flag hopeful Clarence in the opening round before dropping games to Kingborough and Glenorchy.
The Southern Bombers' leaders have again been leading the way in the opening few rounds with Harry Richmond kicking two goals in all three games.
"It's probably been our leaders - Josh McGuinness our captain has been outstanding through the first three weeks and we got Bryce Walsh back in round two and he's had two pretty good games," Willing said.
"But some of our younger defenders - Tyler Martin, Will Francis and Ossie Shaw - they've been pretty good over the first three weeks.
"They've been under a bit of pressure and stood up down there."
In the round's other game, Glenorchy and Kingborough made two changes for their Anzac Day clash at Kingston.
Tigers Marcus Gardner and George O'Neill replace Tom Dwyer and Ben Donnelly, while Glenorchy recalled Braidy Simpson and Bayley Bester for Cam Goodsell and Darrean Wyatt.
FULL TEAMS
LAUDERDALE
- B: N. Raglione, W. Poland, J. Salmon
- HB: T. Ratcliffe, O. Shaw, E. Stanley
- C: J. McGuinness, S. Siggins, L. Paton
- HF: F. Kenny, T. Martin, S. Tilley
- F: B. Rolfe, H. Richmond, B. Walsh
- R: H. Smith, N. Franklin, R. Sutton
- Int: L. Arnold, W. Francis, A. Hevey, J. Williams
- Emg: B. Kingston, T. Sookee, B. Steinbauer, J. Westell
In: J. Williams, S. Tilley,
Out: J. Westell, B. Steinbauer
NORTH LAUNCESTON
- B: B. Van Buuren, C. Nankervis, R. Whitney
- HB: J. Foon, W. Edmunds, M. Stingel
- C: L. Mitchell, B. Cox-Goodyer, R. Sanders
- HF: J. Avent, T. Bennett, N. Pearce
- F: T. Donnelly, Z. Burt, J. Rushton
- R: A. Lee, M. Walsh, B. Simpson
- Int: H. Bayles, D. Chugg, T. Ives, B. Leary
- Emg: A. Bourne, M. Cossins, C. Evans, H. Griffiths
In: R. Sanders, J. Avent, B. Leary, T. Donnelly,
Out: O. Van dam , D. Withers, A. Jefferies, M. Cossins