Ground: North Park, Stawell, Saturday, 2pm.
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Umpires: L. Campbell and C. Pickering.
Last time they met: Round six, 2014. Swifts 23.18 (156) d Rupanyup 7.3 (45).
SWIFTS are determined not to let Rupanyup spoil their 100th anniversary celebrations at North Park on Saturday.
The Baggies will be at home in front of a big crowd against a team they defeated by 111 points just six weeks ago.
However, coach Ben Martin said his team was only concerned with the form the Panthers would take into the game.
“You can only look at things on a week-to-week basis, and against Harrow-Balmoral at the weekend they were only outscored by 11 points after half-time,” he said.
“We just want to get back to what we keep talking about, which is playing as a team and not individuals.
“We don’t want it to turn into a scrappy game, we want it to be a clean game so we can show our supporters what we can do.”
A free-flowing game is exactly the opposite of what the doctor ordered for Rupanyup.
The Panthers’ success against the Roos at the weekend came when they cut off the outside run and turned the game into a scrappy affair.
Coach Mick Finnigan said his team would look for more of the same on Saturday.
“I don’t want to say we want to rain on their parade, but we certainly want to make it a good contest for everybody,” he said.
“There would be nothing better than to beat them in front of a big crowd, but we’ll see how we go.”
Glen Hodgins and Cam Matthews loom as possible inclusions for the Panthers, while Julian Carr, Ash Cowen and Damian McDonald – who has missed more than a month with a knee injury – are all available for the Baggies.
The senior game will start at the earlier time of 2pm and the players will support the Cancer Council’s Call to Arms appeal by wearing yellow armbands.