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THIS weekend’s clash between Rupanyup and Laharum shapes up as an important chance for both sides to build some momentum for the season.
Rupanyup has lost three games in a row after starting the season with a win, but has been in winning positions for the last two weeks. The side has been over run two weeks in a row in the final quarter.
Playing coach Jack Musgrove said it has been frustrating to watch his side lose games they easily could have won.
“Playing good footy for a half isn’t going to win you games,” he said.
“Against the Swifts I think it was a fitness issue but against Noradjuha-Quantong last week I think it was our mentality. We need to make sure we come out strong this week against Laharum.
“Our good footy is solid and I think we could challenge a lot of teams, but if you’re doing that for a half it’s not going to win games.”
Laharum coach Robbie Miller said the two sides would probably be in a similar position come the end of the season.
He said a win would be vital if the side wanted to push on into the finals.
“We know this is important and we want to get a win against them at their ground,” Miller said.
“I’ve been looking at the draw and they have a few tough games coming up so if we can get the win that will give us a bit of a buffer over them. They wouldn’t want to lose too many more in a row. We will know they have faded away and hopefully we can exploit that.”
After resting some players for last week’s win against Pimpinio, Miller said his side would be almost at full strength this week.
“We rested Tom Crawford last week and a few others to give the under-17s a crack and they relished it,” he said.
“We will be back to almost full strength this weekend.”
It is a different story for the Panthers, who will have at least six senior players out with an injury.
Musgrove himself is still nursing an ankle injury and will be a test for Saturday’s game.
“Hugh McMurtrie cracked his ribs in the Swifts game and is out,” Musgrove said.
“Scott Niewand injured his kidneys last weekend, Mark Tickner injured his shoulder, Jordan May injured his Achilles and I’m coming back from an ankle injury.
“We have had a fair few youngsters coming in. We had Blake Turner last week and Jordan Weidemann had a crack against the Swifts. The best thing this year is we have those reserves players who can come up and play senior footy. I think we definitely have the players there to come up and fill roles.”