After two weeks on the road, the Dubbo Demons senior sides will finally host their first games of the season on Saturday.
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Round three of the Central West AFL will kick-off at South Dubbo Oval when the home side host the powerhouse Bathurst Bushrangers in the women's and men's Tier 1 and 2 matches.
Coming off a tough loss last weekend to Orange, things are unlikely to get easier for the Tier 1 Demons this weekend against a motivated Bathurst side who also lost last week to rivals the Bathurst Giants.
Dubbo Tier 1 coach Terry Lyons has nothing but respect for the Bathurst side and knows it is going to be a tough game for the Demons.
"They are who they are and have been for 15 seasons, they haven't missed a grand final so they'll rebound pretty strongly," he said.
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"We are coming off a couple of losses as well but I think we still have a couple of weeks to sort our plans out and this will be a good chance to test them against the guys who have been the benchmark for over a decade."
Lyons admitted earlier this year that the side will slowly build throughout the season before the finals series in the four-team competition.
We are coming off a couple of losses as well but I think we still have a couple of weeks to sort our plans out...
- Dubbo Demons Men's coach Terry Lyons
Adding to the Demons woes is several players have been injured so far this season thinning the playing stocks but Lyons know what he will get from those coming into the side this week.
"We had a number of injuries last week which added to our number of injuries to the week previously so we have a few outs but they guys who are coming in are all capable and we've got the best team we can," he said.
The Dubbo club has added a Tier 2 side this season and Lyons is hoping that locals will show their support on Saturday in the club's 40 year anniversary season.
"The club is really building, it would be good to see a few of the old guys come down and support (us), the juniors always provide good support and they are a very strong club. I'm hopeful for a big crowd," he said.
One of the additions for this week is Dan O'Leary and Lyons admitted he was excited to see what kind of performance he will see on Saturday afternoon.
"It's his first game this year and he has been training really well," he said.
"That's somebody who I think is going to step up from where they were last year, hopefully we see a few things from him that we have putting into the place in pre-season."
The women's side bounced back from a round one loss with a comfortable win over Orange last weekend but a different task awaits them in the form of an experienced Bushrangers side who, along with the Giants, have regularly been towards the top of the table.
The Tier 2 side is expected to welcome some new additions to the side this week when they face an experienced Bushrangers Rebels team, the nucleus of whom have played together for the last several seasons.
The Tier 2 match will start at 11am.
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