BENALLA All Blacks coach Ben Wapling says shutting down Blues star Jason Humphries will give his side the best chance of winning Saturday’s clash at Greta.
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Benalla-raised utility Humphries has featured in the best in an impressive eight of his 12 games this season and Wapling is hoping his side can put the clamps on the match-winning former Wangaratta Rovers player.
“I don’t know how they’ve been using him but he’s a Benalla boy and we won’t be letting him have a free rein,” Wapling said yesterday.
The Panthers have also done their homework on Blues goal-kicking ace Brad Bell, who has booted 75 goals from 10 games.
Wapling said defender Ben Kunkel was likely to get first crack at Bell.
“He’s obviously a massive target for them,” Wapling said.
“They will look to him and they’ve been using Humphries and (Chris) O’Connor as well.”
Both sides have plenty to play for.
The fifth-placed Panthers can move as high as fourth with a win and drop as low as seventh with a loss, while the eighth-placed Blues can slip out of the eight if ninth-placed Bright wins at home against top-placed Milawa.
“From here on every game is massive,” Wapling said.
“We’ve got ourselves back up to fifth and obviously have our eyes on the top four.
“We’ve played some of the better sides previously and haven’t got across the line, but as they’d admit, we aren’t far off either.
“They (Greta) are in a different position to us. They really need to win games to stay in the top eight.”
The Panthers could welcome back Ben Irwin and Brendan Smith as they look to emulate their round-2 home win against the Blues.
The Panthers led by 37 points heading into the last quarter but won by just 15.
