ALBURY coach Luke Carroll is banking on Josh Dicketts providing the Tigers with another sorely needed goal-kicking option starting against Wangaratta at the Albury Sportsground today.
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Dicketts was finally cleared to the Tigers from the Ballarat league club Lake Wendouree on Thursday night and the first-year Albury coach is hoping his inclusion will ease the unhealthy reliance on captain Matt Fowler up forward.
Fowler has been the Tigers’ leading goal-kicker in recent seasons and is again their most productive forward with 12 goals this year.
But Albury is languishing in seventh place on the ladder with only two wins from its first six matches.
“He will give us a bit of flexibility,” Carroll said.
“He can play in a variety of positions on the ground, but hopefully he can kick a few goals for us.”
Fowler has also been thrown into the ruck in the Tigers’ past two games against Wodonga and Yarrawonga, in a bid to spark the team into action.
He is the only Albury player to kick more than 10 goals this season with Daniel McAlister spending more time in defence.
The Tigers are sitting one win outside the top five and must beat the Magpies or Myrtleford in their next two games to be a realistic chance of playing finals.
“We can’t look any further ahead than Saturday and we’ve got to play accordingly,” Carroll said.
“If we drop this one, well, you’ve got to make a few up in the second half of the year.
“No doubt I am disappointed about not being where I would like us to be.
“We would like another couple more wins, but we haven’t got them.”
Carroll said the Tigers’ decision to drop three players — Isaac Edmunds, Jesse Hill and Daniel Ladgrove — should not be viewed as an act of desperation.
“We’ve just got to get our mix right,” Carroll said.
“It’s not about wielding the axe.
“We are just trying to get our best side which will win us a game of footy.”
As well as Josh Dicketts, the Tigers have brought in key defender Jon Thompson for his first senior match this season, and Luke Daly.
Carroll said the drawn-out saga to sign Dicketts had not been a distraction for the team.
“It’s nothing we’ve really focused on or talked about because it’s been out of our hands a bit,” he said.
“People obviously know about it, but I wouldn’t say it’s affected the team.
“But it’s good to have him on board that’s for sure.”
The Magpies could not consider tough on-baller Matt Kelly for the clash after being helped from the ground by trainers in the third term.
“It’s unfortunate for Matty because he has been doing a lot of the hard grunt work for us this year,” Magpies coach Jon Henry said.
“He really puts his head over the footy and he will be a bit of a loss.”
