One of NTFA premier footy's best to miss blockbuster against Bridgenorth

Larby was stretchered off during the final stanza of the Tigers' impressive four-point win against Rocherlea last weekend and coach Mitch Stagg suspected a knee injury at the time.

Stagg said Larby's knee was okay but an ankle injury would keep him out of action for a few weeks.

While Larby's injury is a significant blow to the Tigers, a silver lining is that they will have Launceston ruck recruit Deagan Madden return for the first time since round five.

"He will come back into the side this week after missing the last two games through injury," Stagg said.

"Michael has been playing predominantly ruck over the past fortnight in his absence, after starting the season up forward.

"Deagan has displayed high-quality attributes as a starting ruckman to date and we couldn't be more pleased with his development to this point."

Meanwhile, Bridgenorth backman Ollie Wood was a 50/50 chance to return from a long-term injury, according to coach Oli Cook.

He added recruit Adam Linford, who hasn't played since round two, was also still recovering from facial fractures.

The Parrots are coming off a one-goal home victory against Hillwood.

While it seemed a significant triumph against the 2023 grand finalists, Cook said his group didn't execute the way they wanted to.

"The competition is really close at the top end so getting the four points was significant but if we are looking at the way we achieved it, this week it was a little disappointing," he said.

"We have been progressing gradually but we certainly aren't getting ahead of ourselves, we have a lot of work still ahead of us.

"Hillwood are clearly a bit undermanned at the moment through injury and that allowed us to win the stoppage battle which probably ended up being the difference."

Bridgenorth lost to South Launceston by nine points and Rocherlea by eight points in what were their biggest tests of the season so far.

Cook said the Parrots had given the Rocherlea loss plenty of attention as they try to overcome other premiership contenders such as Longford.

"South was a game where either side could have won and in the end they deserved their four points," Cook said.

"Rocherlea on the other hand, we felt we made some significant errors late in the game that weren't aligned to what we have trained and what the game required from us at certain points in time.

"We have cut up and reviewed that game, along with Hillwood, to educate on how to handle those moments and situations."

Cook said the Parrots broke their home-and-away attendance record on the weekend.

Saturday's match starts at 2pm at Longford Recreation Ground.