THE announcement Bendigo Gold will fold at the end of the season has only made the playing group more determined to snap its losing streak.
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The Gold haven’t won a game since the alignment with Essendon finished two years ago.
They came agonisingly close against the Northern Blues three weeks ago and a repeat of that effort will give them some chance of toppling the Casey Scorpions at the QEO on Saturday.
“The players are up and about,’’ Jones said.
“As individuals and as a group these players have got a point to prove.
“I’m expecting a very spirited performance against Casey.”
The Melbourne-aligned Scorpions haven’t been in great form the past month, but they have been bolstered this week by the return of three key players.
Towering ruckman Max Gawn, top 10 AFL national draft selection Christian Salem and midfielder Sam Blease are back in the Casey side after being dropped by Melbourne.
“It’s the strongest squad Casey has had for a while,’’ Jones said.
“After a couple of poor losses I’m sure they’ll be keen to bounce back.
“Gawn did a bit of damage against us last year. He’s such a big unit.. he can be hard to stop, particularly when he goes forward.”
The Gold have regained some firepower of their own, with former GWS forward Joe Redfern back in action.
“Having Joey back to partner Tigga (Tyrone Downie) will certainly help us,’’ Jones said.
“Joey will give Jeremy Lambden a chop out in the ruck as well.”
Sandhurst’s Seb Greene will make his VFL debut for the Gold.
Saturday’s game at the QEO starts at 2pm.