South Warrnambool has suffered a blow before its clash with Warrnambool on Saturday but coach Mandy Van Rooy remains confident.
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The versatile Marlie Boyd, best on court for the Roosters in the club's impressive 16-goal win over Camperdown last week, is unavailable to face the Blues in an important fixture that could see fifth-placed South Warrnambool carve out a one-game buffer over the Hampden league's sixth-placed side.
And while Mel Keath (illness) is still building toward full fitness, South Warrnambool is more than capable of throwing its weight around, says Van Rooy.
The Roosters mentor said youngsters Isabella Rae and Meg Kelson had showed off their speed and class in recent games, with the latter collecting five intercepts in one quarter against Camperdown.
Meanwhile, Van Rooy said experienced heads in Eliza Dwyer and Annie O'Brien, were in great form and provided consistent leadership on court.
But she said South Warrnambool had put plenty of work into Warrnambool stars Amy Wormald, who scored a whopping 54 goals against Hamilton Kangaroos and Emma Cust.
"It would be huge to win over them and great for our confidence," Van Rooy said.
She said communication between South Warrnambool's wing defence and centre would be key to interrupting Wormald's supply into the ring, while Cust posed a different set of problems.
"Emma is extremely important to that side, with such a presence in defence," Van Rooy said.
"We can't let her play to her strengths and pick up those 50-50 balls. So we probably need to work on placement and delivery of the ball into our attacking ring.
"But I'm also not quite sure we're using Eliza Dwyer correctly. She's so strong and smart in the ring and without having girls who have played with before, they need time to get used to her."
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