By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE COACH
RON Hampton is back for his second year as coach of the EDFL interleague side and he’s hoping for a repeat of last year’s result – a convincing win over the Alberton league.
“I think we’ve got a really exciting group again,” he said.
“I think the blokes who want to play are all really good, skilful blokes.
“We’ve lost a fair bit of experience from last year’s side but we’ve brought some good experience in as well.
“The set-up will be similar but we’ll have a few more keys this time – we’ll have two genuine big ruckmen, for example.”
But Hampton knows the importance of not micro-managing his side this Saturday.
“These are guys who know how to play footy – it’s about letting them showcase their skills,” he said.
“We’re just there to steer the ship and let them run what they can put into place.
“You just have to let these guys enjoy themselves – to measure their talent up against the opposition’s and see where they end up.”
Hampton said the likes of Tye Holland, Nathan Lieshout and Brad Walker were hell-bent on experiencing that winning feeling again, following on from last year’s result.
But the group is wary of the unknown – what Mid Gippsland will dish up.
“You don’t know if they’re going to be big like Alberton was, or if they’re going to be quick – you just don’t know,” Hampton said.
“It’s going to be a hard final selection (on Thursday night) – there will be blokes really disappointed to miss out, that’s for sure.”
