THEY say a week is a long time in football.
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Two weeks is an eternity if your side is coming off a loss.
Portland coach Jake Myles believes the Tigers will come out firing against Hamilton Kangaroos in their Anzac Day clash at Hanlon Park today, almost a fortnight on from their shock round two loss to Port Fairy.
“It’s been a long couple of weeks,” Myles said.
“I wish we could have played the Sunday after the game to be honest.
“We’ve trained really well the last couple of weeks and we understand we need to bring the right attitude week in, week out.”
Myles, who was dismissed as Hamilton Kangaroos mentor without coaching a senior game prior to the 2013 season, said he was wary of the young Melville Oval-based team.
Hamilton Kangaroos enter round three on the back of a surprise win against 2013 grand finalist Koroit. “I watched them against Koroit and they were pretty impressive,” he said.
“They’re a quick side and like to get on the outside.
“They will try and harass us and put as much pressure on as they can and whether we stand up to that will have a say in the outcome.”
Portland pair Rhys Egan and Daniel Falcone come in for their first games of the season.
Egan won the Ted Kenna Medal for best-on-ground in the Tigers-Kangaroos’ inaugural Anzac Day clash last year.
Myles said the tough onballer had overcome a hamstring injury and was a welcome addition to the Portland line-up.
“He’s done everything right and he probably could have played against Port Fairy but we thought we’d give him two extra weeks,” he said.
“It’s been about six weeks since the incident. He’ll bring a bit of experience and a bit of voice around the footy which I think we had been lacking the last couple of weeks.”
Hamilton Kangaroos coach Jarrod Holt, who will coach against his former club for the first time, said consolidating on its first win of the season was his side’s biggest challenge.
“We are coming off a good win a fortnight ago and trained with good intensity,” he said.
“The boys enjoyed the win and want more of it.
“The challenge for us is to string good games together.”
Holt said while he would call on some of his Portland experience to help calculate the Tigers’ demise, he wouldn’t focus too much on his past.
“I try not to look too far into it — you can over analyse it,” he said.
“I will worry about what we need to do.”
Kangaroos key position player Damien Logan comes in for Jarrod O’Brien, who is unavailable, and Matt Lowe is under a cloud with a knee injury. Lowe copped a knock to the knee in the Kangaroos’ round one loss to Cobden and aggravated it against Koroit.