The Yass Roos and Murrumbateman Eagles are ready to get back into action this Saturday after a full weekend of byes across all the AFL Canberra competitions.
In Round 5 action of the 2023 Community Men’s Division 3 competition, the Roos will come up against Tuggeranong Valley at Kambah Oval at 12pm on Saturday, while the Eagles will be on the road to Belconnen at Holt Oval.
The first-placed Roos will be full of confidence after their start to the season, winning four from a possible four games and are undefeated going into the clash against the last-placed Tuggeranong with a 0-4 record.
Yass has the best attack in the comp, scoring 420 points (105 average) after their first four games, while their defence is the second best, only conceding 128 points (32 average).
Tuggeranong has the worst attack in the comp only scoring 101 points (25.25 average) over the first four weeks, and the second worst defence, conceding 323 points (80.75 average).
Yass Roos playing President Jarrad Forlonge said that his side enjoyed a well-earned week off after a physically tough start to the season.
“I think the bye came at a good time for us. There were a few little niggles getting around and a couple after the clash against Murrumbateman because of how physical it was,” Forlonge said.
“It was good to get the weekend off to reset but we still continued to train as normal to keep working on everything.
“We’ve got a few more away games coming up after the break, which should be good. We don’t really know what Tuggeranong are going to be like either, so we’re just excited to keep turning up and trying to win each week.”
The Eagles will be looking to bounce back after their first loss since being crowned premiers, falling agonisingly short to the Roos last weekend.
The second-placed Murrumbateman have the second-best attack in the comp scoring 359 points (89.75 average) and the best defence, only conceding 117 points (29.25 average).
On the contrary, the seventh-placed Magpies have conceded the most points out of any team in the competition with 349, so they’ll have their work cut out for them against the dangerous Roos forward line.
Eagles Coach Mark Welsh says the team are looking forward to the challenge of coming up against a young Belconnen side this weekend.
“We we’re definitely looking forward to having a break and now we’ll go into a team that we haven’t been exposed to for years,” Welsh said.
“Belconnen are a bit of an unknown. I think they’ll be a young squad. I do know the coach of the Belconnen team, he is actually a mate of mine, and I know he’s trying to build some young players there.
“We’ll prepare for the game like we always do, but they’ll be a younger squad which means they’ll be fit and keen and we’ll have to be ready this weekend.”
Good luck to both Yass Valley sides on the weekend. Get the four points.
Tim Warren
