Blackwood has made two changes to its squad for Saturday’s game against Mt Barker at Summit Park.
In a mouth-watering match, the fourth-placed Woods will be looking to secure a victory over the third placed Barkeroos with the sides only separated by percentage on the ladder (Mt Barker are +225 points) after the completion of the opening seven rounds of the season.
The Woods who have had strong success over the Roos winning six of the last seven encounters, have named 2020 HFL Mail Medallist Matt Tuck (missed last weekend) whilst Zac Venning has earnt a call up having toiled away in the reserves in the opening part of the season.
Speaking at selections on Thursday evening, coach Scott Prebble said the team was looking forward to running out at Summit Park for the very first time.
“The players have had a solid week on the track. We watched the replay of last weekend’s clash and highlighted the areas which got us into a winning position. We also highlighted the areas we are continually looking to improve at.”
“We are looking to playing at Summit Park against an inform Mt Barker side. We think the venue can play to our strengths and look forward to representing the red and green this weekend.”
In the B Grade, coach Denam Moore (standing in for regular coach Daniel Lowe who is missing through Covid Protocols) has made seven changes to the side with Ed Angley, Caleb Dearman, Luke Lewis, Alex Strauss, Mat Tee and Sam Tonkin named. For ruck Angley, a member of the 2021 Senior Colt premiership side, it will be his first B Grade game for the club.
The B Grade will be looking to return to the winners list having suffered close defeats in the previous two encounters. Since the start of 2010, the sides have met on 28 occasions with Blackwood winning on 21 occasions including a run of 13 successive victories from 2013 to 2019. In the four matches between the teams in 2021, the Woods secured one victory (Round 11) whilst Mt Barker came away with the chocolates three times including in two finals (Qualifying and Preliminary).
In the Senior Colts, Daryl Sowerby and his side find themselves top of the table match against Mt Barker with both sides are sitting equal on 10 points after six matches. Coming into the squad for the game are Michael Thompson and Asher Young.
The Woods will be looking to make it 10 in a row, with the side currently on a streak of nine successive victories over the Barkeroos in the Senior Colts competition. The last defeat against the Roos came back in the Preliminary Final in 2016 when the then coached Matt Thomas side went down by 12 points at Echunga Oval.
Unfortunately for the C Grade they have had to forfeit due to low player numbers.
Check out the full squads for Round 8 courtesy of match day sponsor Lowe’s Meat Co
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