Russells Creek footballers were all smiles at training on Tuesday after winning their first match of the season last weekend.
RUSSELLS Creek wants to keep its momentum rolling after opening its winning account last weekend.
“The boys felt like they were playing some decent footy, we just hadn’t got the four points we were looking for,” coach Darren Little said.
“It was good to get the win and hopefully it gives us a bit of confidence.
“It’s really important now that we try and get a couple of wins together so we can keep ourselves in touch with the top five.”
Russells Creek will be boosted by the return of the versatile Jayden Askew, who joins the hard-running Justin Harzmeyer and recruit Mark Bruce as inclusions.
The side loses Hayden Harradine (hamstring), Reece Clarke (unavailable) and Danny Chatfield (groin).
Opponent Dennington has made three changes, including adding some pace and strength through Trent Clark and Sam Lewis respectively.
South Rovers travel to Allansford in a bid to try and snap the Cats’ unbeaten streak.
Lions coach Brett Evans hopes his side can continue to build momentum after a breakthrough win last weekend.
“We just want to try and play four good quarters,” he said. Half-forward Daniel Pender returns from a hamstring injury and will replace Jake Peake (under 17s).
Allansford brings in onballer/backman Travis Membrey, forward Matt Dwyer and backman Sam Doukas, while their three exclusions go back to reserves.
Cats coach James Byrne described Rovers as a quality team which would be hard to beat.
“They’ve got a strong midfield, dangerous forwards and a pretty solid backline,” he said.
Panmure coach Simon O’Keefe expects Old Collegians to be his side’s toughest opponent yet.
“I’ve looked at their key players and they’ve got a good spread of forwards, backs and their midfield wins a lot of the ball,” he said.
The Bulldogs have promoted onballer Nick Jones, who joins Adam O’Keefe as an inclusion.
Out goes Shamus O’Beirne (wrist) and Tom Jones (omitted).
Old Collegians is desperate to reduce its turnovers after last weekend’s heavy loss to the Demons.
After being unavailable due to a wedding last weekend, Warriors coach Michael Sargeant comes in, along with backmen Michael Wesley and Matthew Lynch.
Out goes Mark Jones (omitted), Jimmy Van Engelen (unavailable) and Troy Richardson (unavailable).
Sargeant said Old Collegians passed on its condolences to Merrivale after Tigers coach Stephen Kelson died suddenly on Sunday.
Merrivale will be guided by forward Todd McLean for the rest of the season.
“Tuesday night we didn’t do a hell of a lot, we just had a talk and then we tried to get back into routine as much as we could (last night),” McLean said.
“It was a good night on the track with plenty of numbers. I think we had 52 there.”
The Tigers have made one change, with utility Lachlan Kelly coming in for the suspended Kris Stewart.
Opponent Deakin University, which thoughtfully gave Merrivale hosting rights for the match, has made four changes, including bringing in midfielder Joshua Van Heugten and wingman Brent Astle.
The undefeated Timboon Demons and Kolora-Noorat duel tomorrow, The Power remain unchanged, while the Demons have brought in Andrew Powell.
East Warrnambool has kept its line-up from last weekend’s promising performance against Panmure.
“It’s been pretty positive this week,” coach Paul Butters said.
“There’s just a couple of things we’ve got to work on, like not having lapses.
“I think (Panmure) kicked 10 goals in a row, which ended up costing us.”
The Bombers will carry confidence into their clash against Nirranda, which welcomes in centre half-back Tim Hayes, wingman Ben Blair and onballer Jakob Smit, who was cleared from North Warrnambool Eagles under 18s this week.