AS the Albury-Wodonga Bandits enter the final weeks of what has been an intriguing and drama-filled SEABL season, the Border outfit can see some light at the end of the tunnel.
Unfortunately, the golden glow may well be an oncoming train, as the Bandits face a tough run home with back-to-back games in four of the six rounds remaining, including this weekend’s tough road trip.
The Border club heads to Mount Gambier’s Icehouse tomorrow night for a clash with the Pioneers, who will be fired up to inflict some vengeance after the Bandits shocked the South Australian outfit in round 3.
For Bandits coach James Madigan and his Pioneers counterpart Ray de Wit, the match also represents something of a reunion.
The pair are close friends from their playing days together in South Australia in the 1980s, with Madigan serving as best man at de Wit’s wedding 15 years ago and for both coaches, not only is a win on the line but also the prospect of some friendly bragging rights.
“I love it, we’ve been best friends for more than 25 years,” Madigan said.
“We’ve been in fights together, got kicked off planes together, we’ve done it all.
“He’s a great guy, I enjoy coaching against him and I can’t lose this year.
“I’m already one up on him but at the end of the day, regardless of the outcome, we’re best mates and always will be.”
De Wit agreed with Madigan’s sentiments but admitted both he and the Pioneers players were keen on some payback.
“We first played together at Central Districts in the early ’80s, which seems like 100 years ago now,” de Wit said.
“We’ve always stayed in touch and there’s no doubt there’ll be plenty of bragging afterwards.
“He’ll want to win as much as I do.
“We owe them one, too, we were very ordinary against them earlier in the season and I think we underestimated their fight and their spirit and their endeavour and they showed us up.”
The Pioneers have battled chemistry issues all season and Madigan said that while their hosts had more talent, he was expecting to come away with the Border club’s fifth win of the season.
“I’m going in fully expecting to win and will be very disappointed if we lose,” Madigan said.
“I think consistency will be the key for us, if we play all four quarters we’ll win, if we don’t, we’ll lose, it’s as simple as that.
“At the end of the day, they’ve got more talent than us without a doubt but I think our chemistry is better than theirs.”
Following the Pioneers game, the Bandits head to Knox on Saturday and a re-match with the high-powered Raiders, who gave the Border outfit a frightful caning a month ago.
But for the moment, Madigan is only concentrating on tomorrow night’s clash with Mount Gambier.
“I won’t worry about Knox until after we get a win against Mount Gambier,” Madigan said.
“It’s hard to think two games ahead, you don’t know if you’ll have injuries or things like that, so you can’t worry too much about it.
“We’ve got three games at home that I think we can win in the run home and if we can get six wins for the season, that would be awesome as a platform to build into next year.”
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