They're back, and so is Zak.
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After just the two home games from six starts in the Spalding Waratah League Division 1 Men's comeptition, the Orange Eagles kick off a run of four games on home court starting this Saturday night against Queanbeyan Yowies, and the side will be boosted by one of its biggest names.
After missing the past month, Blayney's Zak Simons will return to the Eagles' starting line-up after competing at Nationals, and skipper Mitch Selwood said the big youngster would make an immediate impact to the side.
"Huge figure for us and even though he's just 17 his size, skills and experience are invaluable," Selwood said."
"It's been unfortunate not having him around .... he's a huge boost.
"He'll probably fit in at centre or power forward, which is his normal role in under-18s while we transition him back into the team and then after a while we might play around with where he can go."
We've been around to a few different courts now and we've definitely got the best show in the competition.
- Mitch Selwood
As big a boost as Simons will be, the side having the chance to run around on home court will also be a huge boost, with Selwood saying it would be a "good chance to get a win" over the next month after being unable to find a win after their debut game in Dubbo.
"We've been right in a lot of them, the Lithgow game we definitely should have won being up with a few minutes to go," he said.
"But we're hoping for a win on home court to boost the confidence."
The home crowd, the support of which over the first few home games Selwood lauded, will also play a part in that.
"The crowd was absolutely fantastic for the first few home games, we've been around to a few different courts now and we've definitely got the best show in the competition with the DJ and dancing and everything," he said.
However, he knows the side has to perform on the court for spectators to keep coming back, and said the Eagles took advantage of the long weekend break, which was a competition-wide bye, to touch up on a few technicalities.
"We worked on turnovers in offence and our defensive transition, they're the two big areas that have hurt us in the past few weeks," Selwood said.
"With our defensive transition we make sure we know where our man is on the turnover, and also our decision making in offence so we limit those turnovers."
He didn't know what to expect from the Yowies.
"Just like a lot of the other teams we've played this year we've only been able to look at the box scores, which can be useful in you know who they go through to score but outside of that we don't know much," Selwood said.
Tip-off is at 6.30pm on Saturday at Sir Neville Howse Stadium.
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