Related: Weekend footy preview
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Eaglehawk coach Josh Bowe has warned his side not to take South Bendigo lightly in Saturday's BFNL clash at Canterbury Park.
The Bloods' best footy is good enough to trouble the Hawks and Bowe
"I really rate South Bendigo,'' Bowe said.
"They have plenty of dangerous players and they're capable of playing good footy.
"We need to be on our game"
The Hawks are on the rebound from their first loss of the season - a 19-point defeat to Kyneton.
"It was really disappointing to drop that one, but we've had a look at it and we've taken some positives out of the game,'' Bowe said.
"It makes us even more hungry this week."
The Hawks will be without injured star forward Matt Gretgrix.
Bowe refused to give too much away about Gretgrix's injury.
"He's injured at the minute, but it's nothing too major,'' Bowe said in relation to Gretgrix.
"He's got an injury. If he was right to play, he'd play. It's not a management thing."
Gretgrix's absence gives the Hawks an opportunity to trial a new-look forward line.
Brenton Conforti has played in defence since resuming this season, but he did play a big role for the Hawks across half-forward in 2017.
"We love what he (Conforti) did forward last year and he's one of a few players that we can swing both ways,'' Bowe said.
"We've got quite a few options which is a good sign for us."
Bowe was proud of the way the Eaglehawk quintet - Tyler Miles, Brodie Collins, Ben McPhee and youngsters Jack Fallon and Jonty Neaves - represented the BFNL at inter-league level last week.
"From all reports they all played well,'' Bowe said.
"We were really happy as a club to have such a good showing at inter-league."
The Bloods were disappointing in defeat to Golden Square last round.
They’ve been strengthened by the return of star ruckman Kieran Strachan, but they’ll need a lift across the group if they’re to upstage the Hawks.
South Bendigo has lost its past 10 encounters with Eaglehawk and hasn’t won at Canterbury Park since round two 2012.
The average losing margin in that 10-game streak is 58 points.