News

From The Mercury
Reported by James Bresnehan

THE quickest path to goal will be the way Frankston plans to attack the swift Tasmanian Devils on the large expanses of Aurora Stadium in their VFL clash tonight.

The Dolphins are determined to avoid being pushed wide on the large Launceston paddock.

They will fight the handball-happy Devils with speed through the midfield, and avoid going the long way around -- as they did last week against the Cats.

"We played Geelong at Skilled Stadium last week and we pushed the ball too wide," Dolphins coach Brett Lovett said yesterday.

"We know we need to kicked a winning score against Tasmania and the best way to do that is to bring the ball straight through the middle of the ground."

The Dolphins are placed ninth on the VFL ladder and the Devils are 11th after three rounds.

Both have one win apiece, but Frankston has had a bye.

The Devils may find it hard to penetrate the Dolphins' backline, which has been one of the most efficient in the VFL over the past five seasons.

It is led by skipper Ash Roberts, and 100-plus game veterans Shaun Pollard and Neil Winterton.

"Our game revolves around applying a lot of pressure to the opposition and getting numbers back to help out our backline," Lovett said.

Frankston regained three players for the match -- midfielder James Magner, young full-forward Aaron Murray and half-back Paul Rebeschini.

Lovett said the Devils might have lost some of their most experienced players from last season, but he has been advised by his "next round review" coach that the Tasmanians are still dangerous.

"They're a young team, and they've lost a bit of experience, but we won't be under estimating them," Lovett said.

"There's a lot of youth and enthusiasm in the side, and they've got some good players from the Kangaroos like Brad Moran.

"Being a home game for Tasmania, we have to be right on the ball and play our own game."

The return of Kangaroo Ben Ross from a shoulder injury will help the Devils up forward.

The Devils trained under lights at Aurora Stadium last night, putting final preparations on the first of two night games there this season.

Co-captain Brett Geappen passed a fitness test on his ankle, and defender Ben Careless also passed a fitness test.