SOUTH Bendigo coach Steven Oliver is preparing for Castlemaine no different as he would any other Bendigo Football League opponent this week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Oliver’s name is synonymous with Castlemaine - a club in which he kicked 1030 goals, coached, played in two flags with and is officially recognised as one of the Magpies’ 25 greatest players.
But that’s the past and on Saturday, the Magpies will be the enemy as they clash with Oliver’s Bloods at the Queen Elizabeth Oval in round eight.
“Castlemaine is a side that is a spot above us on the ladder and we are really keen to make sure we do everything we can to get a win on the board,” Oliver said on Thursday.
“I understand the interest in the whole thing of the ex-player coaching against his former side, but I’m approaching this week as I would any other opposition team.
“We really need to win if we want to continue to gain respect in the competition.”
Saturday’s game at the QEO shapes a pivotal contest for the finals aspirations of the Bloods and Magpies, who are both 2-5 and one game outside the top five.
The Bloods have continued to improve over the past month and have won their past two games at the QEO against Maryborough and Gisborne by a combined 193 points to kickstart their season after starting 0-4.
“We’ve improved and to continue to improve we need to be beating sides in similar positions to us, of which Castlemaine is one,” Oliver said.
“We weren’t able to win our games against Kangaroo Flat and Kyneton, so this is massively important... it’s one of those eight-point games and that’s how we’ll be treating it.
“But that’s how we’ve got to be treating every game, because when you’ve come from our position (wooden spoon last year) there are no easy games.
“We had a good result against Maryborough (132-point win) before the week off and the guys have trained well over the break and worked hard.
“And it’s that hard work they need to keep bringing on a Saturday to try to get the result.”