ALBURY is expecting Wodonga to be fired up for a strong performance at John Flower Oval today in the wake of coach Ben Hollands’ shock decision to stand down from the helm.
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Hollands stunned the Bulldogs by announcing on Thursday night that he would be cutting short his contract by 12 months and stepping aside at the end of the season.
Tiger co-coach Daniel Maher said the ladder leader would brace itself for an early barrage.
“In footy terms when a coach steps down or gets sacked the group normally comes out with that little bit extra determination and fight in them and you wouldn’t expect anything different from the Bulldogs this week,” Maher said.
“We expect them to come out hard.
“We spoke during the week about working hard and not getting carried away by last weekend’s result.”
Albury will take its list of debutantes to seven this season when youngsters Caleb Simmonds and Jim Carroll line up in the clash between the top and bottom placed sides on the ladder.
They follow Dylan McDonald, Dougal Howard, Matt Munro, Jim Carroll and Hayden Dalitz in donning the yellow and black jumper for the first time.
While the return of Bulldog pair McKye Turner and Nick Beattie is timely for Wodonga given the size of Albury’s line-up, full-forward Setanta O’hAilpin looks set to kick another bag if the home team’s midfield fails to hold up.
O’hAilpin has kicked 22 goals in his past two matches and is closing on Brenda Fevola.
