PLAYING in big games in the second half of a BFNL season is not something Kangaroo Flat is accustomed to in modern times.
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The Roos have only made the finals once in the past decade.
On Saturday at Canterbury Park, the Roos will play in the club’s biggest game since the 2009 preliminary final.
Their clash with Eaglehawk will go a long way to determining to who fills fifth spot on the BFNL ladder.
The fifth-placed Hawks and sixth-placed Roos are level on points, but the Borough holds a 23 per cent advantage.
Kangaroo Flat has a tougher run home than the Hawks making Saturday’s clash even more important for the Roos.
“We’re fighting for the same spot in the finals, so it’s a massive game for the club,’’ Kangaroo Flat coach Jason Stevens said.
“It’s a big test to go out to Canterbury Park and play Eaglehawk, but the boys are up for the challenge.
“There’s a real positive environment around the club at the moment. To be on the edge of being able to play finals is exciting.
“We’ve come from a low base last year to get a few wins this year. Our aim is to play finals and to have any chance of achieving that we need to win this game.”
The Roos scored a 15-point win over the Hawks in their round four clash this year.
“Well take some confidence out of that game, but there’s probably 10 to 15 different blokes across both sides that are running around this time,’’ Stevens said.
“Bottom line is we need to bring our A grade game if we’re to win.”
Eaglehawk will be strengthened by the inclusion of key defender Brenton Conforti and young gun Josh Ryan, who represented NSW at the recent national under-18 championships.
Hawks’ coach Luke Monaghan said his side was primed for the big game.
“There’s a lot of footy still to be played, but this game could be treated like a mini-final,’’ he said.
Monaghan said playing four quarters of consistent footy was the key to the Hawk’s chances.
“We’ve been playing some pretty good footy of late,’’ he said.
“We have had a tendency to let ourselves down with small periods of poor footy and that’s what happened against Kangaroo Flat last time we played.
“We’ve got to make sure we put together four quarters of footy and, if we do that, we’ll go a long to winning the game.”