Ground: Rupanyup Recreation Reserve, Saturday, 2.20pm.
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Umpires: G. White and D. Hutchins.
Last time they met: Round 17, 2013. Swifts 19.14 (128) d Rupanyup 13.11 (89).
SWIFTS will travel to Rupanyup Recreation Reserve on Saturday to take on the battered Panthers.
The Baggies suffered their first setback of 2014 at the weekend after losing to reigning premier Laharum in the wet.
Rupanyup has struggled for much of the season since beating Pimpinio in round two.
Injuries and player unavailability have hurt the Panthers, and tomorrow looms as another tough test.
Key forward Scott Nicholson is still out after returning from an overseas trip, while veteran Nathan Sachse is under an injury cloud.
Scott Niewand is a chance to resume, giving Rupanyup a badly-needed boost.
Coach Mick Finnigan said his team needed to respond positively from a big loss to Noradjuha-Quantong on Saturday.
“The ball didn’t bounce our way the first few times and it put us on the back foot from the word go,” he said.
“I can’t question the guys’ commitment and endeavour, but we need a bit of luck to be honest.
“We’ve only got 21 blokes you’d call regular senior players, so it doesn’t help when we have to deal with injuries.”
Swifts co-coach Ben Martin warned his side not to underestimate the Panthers.
“We need an overall team effort tomorrow and we need everyone to help out and contribute, because we didn’t get that at the weekend,” he said.
“We don’t want to go in with the perception that it’s going to be a walkover because they could turn it around and play some really good footy.”
Martin said changes to the side were possible with everyone healthy and strong performances from reserves players.