GETTING all players plenty of time on field is priority number one for Bathurst Giants coach Mark Kennedy and his team when they travel to play Dubbo Demons this Saturday.
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The last round AFL Central West clash at South Dubbo Oval could be a brutal affair for the Giants, who travel with such a short-staffed squad that they weighed up the possibility of forfeiting the clash.
However, the Bathurst club have put together a team to make the journey and are eager to push a Demons team playing for a finals position.
“We’ve got a few injuries so it won’t be a nice trip up to Dubbo. We’ll put a team on the paddock and see how we go,” Kennedy said.
“It’s always a tough trip over there and we even considered forfeiting at one stage, being that low on numbers, but we’re not doing that because it’s their Indigenous round and we want to go over there and celebrate that with them.”
There's a strong chance Giants and Demons could meet two weekends in a row.
Should the Bathurst men go down to Dubbo this Saturday and minor premiers Orange Tigers knock over Bathurst Bushrangers Rebels then the Giants and Demons will face off in the minor semi-final.
However, if Parkes Panthers muster up an upset against the Bushrangers Rebels then second place will be on the cards for the Giants.
Luckily for the Giants they're likely to field a much stronger squad for their finals fixture in a week’s time, and will feel much more confident regardless of who their opponent will be.
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Kennedy is pleased to see some experienced heads making the trip north for this Saturday’s clash.
“There’s a couple of older guys joining us. Matt Chirgwin has put his hand up to have a game for us this weekend. We’ll look through our list of availabilities to come up with a team,” he said.
“We could look at changing a few things up like having Julian Walsh at full forward, Brendan Edwards we could put in the ruck, and our guys who spend a little bit of time on the bench should get a lot of game time this weekend.”
We’ve got a few injuries so it won’t be a nice trip up to Dubbo.
- Mark Kennedy
Giants are on a mission to bounce back from their last game at Dubbo.
On that occasion the Demons out-muscled the Bathurst men in an 81-64 win. Giants gave themselves every chance to win until two late Demons goals got the hosts home.
Giants will consider themselves well prepared for finals after a tricky five-game run of away fixtures to end the regular season – one of which included a win over the leading Tigers.
This Saturday’s match at South Dubbo Oval starts from 2.30pm.
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Alexander Grant
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
