SHOALHAVEN rivals Bomaderry and Nowra/Albatross will lock horns in round one of the South Coast AFL competition this Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The annual season opener between the cross-town rivals will set the tone for both teams in the 2017 season and newly appointed Vikings captain/coach Marco Basaglia stressed the importance of starting the season off on the right foot.
“Expectations going into the season is to push for finals in both grades,” Basaglia said.
“We don't have the excuse of the merger anymore, so anything less that finals would be a disappointment.”
Basaglia takes over from long-time coach Greg Wellington and hopes to bring a fresh new approach to the whole year.
“As coach, I hope to bring a new attacking game plan to the Vikings,” he said.
“On the back of that, the plan going into round one is to try and control the game more, stick to our game plan and not get flustered or worked up with other teams game plans.”
New Tigers coach Glenn Keys echoed the thought of his opponent, saying he was looking forward to seeing the results of all the hard pre-season work.
“I honestly think all players, coaches and officials are always excited when the season finally starts, as pre-season is always a hard slog in the summer and those clubs with new coaches are trying to instil a new way of approaching each game and new game plans and hopefully everything falls into place,” Keys said.
“Bomaderry and Nowra/Albatross always have hard fought games, the cross town rivalry has always bought the best out of both clubs and I expect nothing different this Saturday.
“It should be a cracking game to open what looks set to be an exciting season.
“As for the season itself, we had a sour taste in our mouths about the way we finished the season last year and I feel that all the guys are ready to make amends.
“We have recruited really well and both first and reserve grade teams are ready to go and give this season a good shake.”
Saturday’s round one matches at West Street Oval start with reserve grade at 12.15pm, followed by first grade at 2.10pm.