Tara Murray
The interleague break came at the right time for the Sunbury Lions after two straight losses in the Ballarat Football League.
After sitting 5-2 and in a good position, the Lions dropped matches to Ballarat and Sebastopol to slip to 5-4 and fifth at the break.
Lions coach Travis Hodgson said they know how important the period ahead of them is.
“Back-to-back losses,” he said. “The Ballarat one stung a bit while Sebastopol is always hard to beat especially with a few missing,
“We were sitting 5-2 and all of a sudden 5-4 and back in the pack a bit. There’s three of us on 20 points, fifth, sixth and seventh.
“Redan has Melton South and is expected to win that. The winner out of East Point and us will be a game clear, while the loser will be a game below.”
Hodgson said the group were confident of bouncing back this week against the Kangaroos.
He said they would be boosted by the return of some of their most important players.
“Joel Muir, our ruck, will be back and Tyson Lever will be back from a broken foot,” he said.
“Mitch Lewis is back from overseas and Jack Hannett is a chance to play his first game. Normally he would go through the reserves, but he’s been my runner for the last five to six weeks.
“Leigh Brennan will be back after missing a week too. Our number one ruck, our second leading goal kicker, our playing assistant coach and captain are all back, it should make a difference.”
Hodgson said Lever, along with Harrison Minton-Connell, who has played a bit of Victorian Football League this season, are their two most important players and would make a big difference to the side.
While most the Lions have the weekend off due to interleague, Hodgson and a group of the club’s young stars were still in action.
Hodgson served as an assistant coach to Anthony Koutoufides for the Ballarat team which was made up of under-23 players.
The Lions had eight players named in the initial 58 player squad, with six making the final 22.
Former Essendon rookie Cody Brand, VFL-listed players Jake Sutton and Minton-Connell, Muir, Riley Miller and Jake Egan made the final 28. Muir was a late withdrawal due to his injury, with Lions teammate Fraser Ampulski getting the late call up and named in the team.
Hodgson, who was appointed after the squad was picked, said it was exciting for the development of the club to have so many players selected.
He said Koutoufides commitment to the role had been first class.
