While Launceston travel to Lauderdale, in-form Blues defender Alec Wright will take the next step in his football journey.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 21-year-old will debut for North Melbourne's VFL outfit after starring across half-back for the reigning premiers.
"It's a great thing for the competition that we've got guys like Alec Wright that have essentially come from nowhere and been able to force a VFL club's hand to pick up the phone, ring me this week and say 'we want him'," coach Mitch Thorp said.
"They've watched him pretty closely over the last three weeks and North Melbourne's VFL side have been doing some pretty good work so he's forced their hand and we are just so proud of him.
"He's a humble kid, a very popular teammate so we are very excited to see what he can do and hopefully it leads to bigger and better things for the future.
"There are a lot of recruiters now that know Alec and are keeping a very close eye on him."
Having been a product of the State League to make it onto an AFL list, Thorp knows the importance of this opportunity.
"TSL clubs have got a role to play in making sure that the aspirational talent in Tasmania can go and put their best foot forward.
"A lot of our younger guys look at that and go I want to be a part of a VFL list, I want to play some VFL footy and try and put my face in front of recruiters and end up on an AFL list like their teammate did, Isaac Chugg.
"We've got a lot of belief in our competition and our players and I think Alec might progress with his footy nicely."
As well as Wright, the Blues lose experienced duo Jay Blackberry and Michael Musicka.
The pair were involved in a heavy collision together last weekend, with Blackberry coming off second best, earning a broken jaw for his troubles, while Musicka was suspended for a week in another incident.
Thorp predicts Blackberry will be out for up to six to eight weeks, with the league's games record-holder to take a seat alongside him in the coaches' box.
"It's not ideal but ... already he's been super professional in managing does he need surgery or does he not, looking at things he can and can't do," he said.
"While six to eight weeks is a lengthy spell, he's had a knee reco before so he's faced worse adversity."
The Blues will use the opportunity to blood some youngsters, with James Leake making his debut as Kye Chilcott, Aidan O'Connor and Sam Foley return.
Lauderdale have only won one of their games so far this season but have been in all of them, leading them all at the final break.
Facing them on their home ground also adds to what Thorp knows will be a challenge.
"Skybus Oval is a throwback ground if you like, we are lucky in this competition to have UTAS, Blundstone Arena and Twin Ovals but Lauderdale is your typical country ground where wind blows one end and Lauderdale play it quite well," he said.
"They've led at three-quarter-time in every game this year, three of them being down there, so they've done a lot of things right, they just haven't been able to put it together for four quarters."
The Southern Bombers boast three players who have been on an AFL list - Allan Christensen, Sam Siggins and Josh McGuinness - with Christensen having played 133 games over 11 years at Geelong and Brisbane before retiring in 2020.
When mixed with their local players, the likes of Harry Richmond, Nat Franklin, Bryce Walsh and Will Poland, the home side could be a force this season.
"We are aware that at some point they are going to connect as a group and be very difficult to beat," Thorp said.
"For whatever reason they haven't closed out those games but against the Tigers and Clarence, who we think are really strong sides, they've had leads ... so we are preparing really strongly for this one."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner