Orbost Snowy Rovers will return to the fray this week after a bye in round five of the East Gippsland Football Netball League, taking on unbeaten ladder leader, Lucknow at the Lucknow Recreation Reserve this Saturday.
The Blues will be keen to bounce back from its most recent assignment, when it was beaten by Stratford by 53 points on the spacious surrounds of Boyd Reserve, which certainly didn’t appear to suit its current game plan.
The Blues did go into the match undermanned, taking the opportunity to get some valuable senior game time into promising youngsters, Finn Donnellan, Andrew Robinson, Tom Macalister, Beau Hanratty and Rusty Morrison.
Donnellan has played three senior matches, while the other four were on debut.
Orbost went into the match without pivotal players Wes Russell, Tommy Smith, Clancy Bennett, Mitchell Fenner and Ash Jonkers, as well as promising youngsters Brayden Fenner, Bobby Bills, Jack Herbert and Angus Davis.
Jordan Ross is also current out with a significant limb injury.
Coach, Peter Seal will be hoping to welcome back some big guns for the trip to Bairnsdale for a tough assignment against a side that they generally match up well on, while the venue suits the Blues game, and they usually put up a solid performance when the two combatants match up.
Expecting a closer game than most people anticipate, with the Blues hoping it’s enough to get the valuable four points.
They currently sit fifth on ladder, trailing fourth-placed Boisdale Briagolong on percentage, so if the Blues are to be a genuine finals contender, they need to stay in touch with the top four, and not get too far off the pace, like they did last season.
