Derby Day to re-start proceedings

Grafton defender Ryan Sheather pulls in a strong mark against Northern Beaches in the opening round of the 2021 season. Photo: Green Shoots Marketing

THE week off has been a blessing for Northern Beaches but Blues coach Rory Evans suspects that might be the same for every AFL North Coast team.

“There’s certainly been a bit more energy among the group from what I’ve seen at training. There’s been a bit more spring in the legs,” Evans said.

“Everyone will benefit from the week off though and Grafton probably won’t be any different.

“They’re a side that spreads very well from the contest with their group of running players. Mitigating what they try and do will part of what we need to do and then for us to transition into attack on the back of that.”

The last time the Blues and Tigers met the match ended in a thrilling draw.

Evans said he expects this contest between the teams sitting in second and fourth positions on the ladder to be just as tight.

“It’s going to be hard work. Last time we played we had more scoring shots but didn’t convert well in front of goal. We’ll need to be better this time at putting scoreboard pressure on Grafton to try and go one better,” he said.

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HEADING into the second half of the season, Sawtell/Toormina is the great unknown.

The Saints suffered a horrid couple of weeks when they went into two road trips horribly undermanned but last start showed what they’re capable of with a strong performance over Grafton.

Considering the difficult start to the season, Sawtell/Toormina has done well to hit the half way stage of the season sitting just outside the four on percentage with a game in hand and have opposition teams wary of what the Saints can produce in the run home.

Coffs Breakers coach Kevin Wilson is one coach who believes the Saints can better football, especially against his team.

“I don’t take much notice of past results but particularly with Sawtell,” Wilson said.

“They’re our arch rivals and they’re always up for a game against the Coffs Breakers.

“We’ll need to be ready because this is the time of year that Sawtell start to get their mojo back. They get their players back, start to gel and build momentum towards the back end of the year.”

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DON’T under estimate the size of the rivalry between Casino Lions and the Lismore Swans.

Casino coach Rod McKey said the battle of the Northern Rivers on Saturday might have the Swans going in as hot favourites and likely victors but that doesn’t diminish the feeling between the two teams.

“There has always been a good rivalry between the two teams, even back when I was playing,” McKey said.

“And it’s still there and that’s great for the two clubs. It’s good to have a rivalry.”

When the sides last met it was a 275-point win to the Swans. McKey said this weekend’s clash won’t be as one-sided.

“We’re still a few key players short which is a bit of a bummer. I was hoping to have a full strength side this week but it definitely won’t be a big difference like it was last time we played,” he said.

“That game was the first time the group had played but we’ve now been playing together for a little while. We’ll see how we go.”

NAMBUCCA Valley’s forward is about to get a big boost.

Lions coach Leif Stuart has declared himself fit and will return to the Lions forward line to stand alongside fellow talls Aaron Clarke and Mick Townsend.

Stuart isn’t the only one returning to the line-up for the encounter at Port Macquarie on Saturday.

“I think we’ve got a few blokes coming back this week,” Stuart said.

“We’re going to try and get a second second half of the season going, try and get some momentum going.

“If we’ve got most of our players back we should be right.”

SENIOR LADDER

	P	W	D	L	WIN %	FOR	AGST	%
Coffs Breakers	7	7	0	0	100	795	366	217.21
Northern Beaches	6	4	1	1	75.00	457	307	148.86
Lismore Swans	7	5	0	2	71.43	872	396	220.20
Grafton	7	3	1	3	50.00	689	419	164.44
Sawtell/Toormina	6	3	0	3	50.00	468	426	109.86
Port Macquarie	7	3	0	4	42.86	615	562	109.43
Nambucca Valley	7	1	0	6	14.29	230	680	33.82
Casino Lions	7	0	0	7	0.00	169	1139	14.84

ROUND 8 FIXTURE – SATURDAY 19 JUNE

SAWTELL/TOORMINA vs COFFS BREAKERS at Richardson Park, Sawtell
(10.00am – Under-17s; 11.50am – Women; 1.20pm – Reserves; 2.50pm – Seniors)
NORTHERN BEACHES vs GRAFTON at Centennial Oval, Woolgoolga
(11.50am – Women; 1.20pm – Reserves; 2.50pm – Seniors)
NB/ Tigers under-17s playing Inverell at Grafton at 10.30am.
CASINO LIONS vs LISMORE SWANS at Queen Elizabeth Park, Casino
(1.00pm – Seniors)
PORT MACQUARIE vs NAMBUCCA VALLEY at Wayne Richards Park, Port Macquarie
(2.00pm – Seniors)

Final scores from around the grounds will be posted on Twitter soon after the siren sounds in the senior matches – Follow @AFLNorthCoast