Allansford ready to rise to challenge against Nirranda

The Cats will be out to prove themselves on Saturday against one of the competition's pacesetters in Nirranda.

It comes a fortnight after a disappointing second half fadeout against another premiership fancy Panmure.

Nowell said belief was still strong among his group, with the intention being to go and "win a footy game" at Nirranda.

"We were really disappointed by the Panmure game, being 26 points up in the second quarter and only nine down in the third," he said.

"That last quarter we disappointed. We've addressed that going into Nirranda, we want to prove to the competition we're not pretenders, we're contenders.

"Panmure, I still feel we could have a won if we had of played consistent football for four quarters. If we don't do that against Nirranda, if we have five minutes of weakness, they will capitalise."

Connor Bellman and Mitch Gristede return to the side after missing round two, while Jack McGee and Ben Carlin will play their first games for the club after crossing from Colac and Merrivale respectively.

Two games into his tenure as senior coach, Nowell said he was trying to find the right balance across all three lines.

"We're still adjusting the team," he said. "If you look at last year's team, there is only 11 players in our current side. We're playing some youth, playing some new recruits so it's about finding what's working and what's not working.

"If you look at what we're putting out on the paddock each week, we're getting closer.

"The onballers, we're trying to keep consistent, but we're trialling a different forward line this week. Brent Fedley strengthens that up."