PORTLAND is using today’s Hampden league pre-season cup as its first hit-out of the off-season according to new coach Jake Myles.
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It will be the first time the Tigers have played a competitive match under new coach Myles and he said he was hoping the side could put into practice what it’s been working on during training.
“I’d really like to see the boys move the footy around the way they have been during pre-season training,” he said.
“We are using it as a way to get those competitive juices back and to put into practice all the things we’ve been working on in the off-season.
“It will be more about getting used to knocking bodies and getting match-play into the legs.
“I’m not expecting that much. It’s our first practice game for the season but it’s going to be good to have a competitive hit-out again.”
The Tigers will play Camperdown at 12.20pm today, before tackling Cobden at 4.30pm.
Myles said he would use the pre-season cup to have a look at some of the young Tigers making their way through the ranks.
“We’ll have a good majority of our young guys playing. With cricket and other commitments it makes it a bit hard,” he said.
“But it will be a good way for those guys and some of the guys who were on the fringes last year, to make their case.”
Myles said he liked the idea of the pre-season competition as a way to have a look at the other teams ahead of the season proper, which is now only 21 days away.
The pre-season cup action starts from 9am at Port Fairy’s Gardens Oval with 10 games across the day. A grand final rematch between Koroit and Warrnambool will open proceedings with the grand final of the competition scheduled for 5.20pm.
jwoolley@fairfaxmedia.com.au