
The bye week is often used as a freshen up, but unfortunately for Cobden, it has lost two defensive stars to illness ahead of a top four clash against Koroit on Saturday. Meanwhile, goal shooter Emily Finch, who suffered a serious ankle injury against Port Fairy in round four, looks set for a stretch on the sidelines.
"Emily will be out for a fair while, and (goal keeper) Nadine McNamara and (goal defender) Sarah Moroney will also be missing," coach Sophie Hinkley said. "We'll have to cover Emily longer term, but that was no worries. We've got Jess Bouchier, who is in the under 17s who played her first under 17 game against Port Fairy back from injury. Then we'll cover our defenders; Jess Wheadon will play and our juniors will be able to come up."
Hinkley previously said the club was running similar game plans across its teams to accommodate for omissions throughout the season. She believes Saturday's match against the Saints would be "an exciting challenge" for a younger group.
"It will be a very exciting time for us to show our depth and test those younger girls out on a quality side like Koroit," she said.
The Bombers were a pre-season premiership favourite, and despite a misstep in round one against South Warrnambool, have been flying ever since. Substantial wins against Portland, Campderdown and Port Fairy in recent weeks have pushed the Bombers into the top four alongside South Warrnambool, Warrnambool and Koroit. Hinkley said she has been impressed with her team's ability to score highly.
"We'll just be making sure we can maintain that work rate and keep consolidating on the things we've been working on," she said. "South was a really good pre-test for us, to see where we were sitting and that gave us a lot of things to work on. We've got Koroit, North and Warrnambool still to play who are in that top five. We'll look forward to those challenges against them."

Meg Saultry
Sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard, with a strong interest in Australian Rules Football, basketball and women in sport. Email: meg.saultry@austcommunitymedia.com.au | mobile: 0475 949 802
Sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard, with a strong interest in Australian Rules Football, basketball and women in sport. Email: meg.saultry@austcommunitymedia.com.au | mobile: 0475 949 802