CONSIDERING Orange has claimed the last three Central West AFL (CWAFL) flags, it’s been a long time since winning consecutive games has been a challenge for the Tigers – until this year.
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The black and golds have battled their way through 2016 so far and back-to-back wins have evaded them so far this season.
After last weekend’s thumping of the Dubbo Demons the Tigers a huge chance to claim a second win in a row this Saturday though, when they travel to Burrangong Oval to take on the Young Saints, from 2.30pm.
The Saints have struggled this year and sit last with a single victory, over the Bathurst Giants, to their name.
The last time the two teams met, the Tigers won by 117 points.
“There just hasn’t been enough consistency there this year, that’s really all it is,” Tigers coach Nathan Pearce said of his side’s sporadic results.
“I think last weekend the difference compared to other weeks was a change in attitude and better execution. There’s a big gap between our best and worst footy and we played some of our best against Dubbo.
“If we can do that again [on Saturday] I’m confident we can come away with a win but if we don’t, Young could hurt us.
“If we play well we can be competitive against any side.”
The Tigers will be without Ryan Scetrine against Young, who Pearce labelled “best on ground” in last week’s win over Dubbo.
“He is missing and we’re still without Mick Rothnie and Tim Barry through injury, but we’ve got a couple coming back in this weekend,” Pearce explained.
“We’ll have a similar team to last weekend so the personnel is there to win.”
Pearce said the change in attitude he identified as a key factor in last weekend’s win had plenty to do with the fact the Tigers virtually need wins in all their remaining games to play finals footy.
“I think that had plenty to do with it,” Pearce said.
“We made it very clear to the guys we couldn’t drop that game against Dubbo or we risked falling out of reach.
“I think that actually takes the pressure off a bit, it’s a simple equation so we can just play footy.
“Last week our passing was back where it needed to be and we controlled the tempo really well.
“We transitioned very quickly back to front and didn’t let Dubbo get men back, if they did we were able to slow it up and take different angles.
“That’s the sort of thing we’re looking for against Young.”
Rothnie (knee) and Barry (foot) are expected to come back in the next week or two, which will give the Tigers a welcome boost during the last few games of the regular season.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
