NORTH Albury coach Jason Akermanis has lit the fuse ahead of the Anzac Day showdown against Albury by saying the Tigers aren’t the team they used to be.

The Hoppers have failed to get within six goals of their rivals since rolling Albury in 2008 and Akermanis said it was time to stand up on the big stage at Albury Sportsground.

Asked whether this weekend presented North Albury with its the best chance of upsetting the Tigers in his time at the club, Akermanis replied: “For sure”.

“They certainly aren’t the team they were a couple of years ago. They are missing personnel and their twos side has struggled to field a team for a number of weeks.

“Our depth will be handy next week.

“We want to play 21 on whatever they give up on the twos and then in the ones we want to make sure we play our game.

“We will have to make a fist of it in the midfield.”

North Albury has bounced back superbly from an opening round defeats by Wodonga with wins over Wangaratta and Wodonga Raiders to stake a genuine claim for a spot in the top three.

The return of skipper David Miles and Reece Tanner will strengthen their cause in coming weeks.

Albury’s injury list will test the defending premier for several more weeks with Angus Graham, Chris Hyde, Jay Koehler, Luke Daly and Ryan Hon sidelined.

While Akermanis stressed North Albury had plenty of work to do before catching the league’s top teams, he admitted the double chance was a realistic goal.

“To be a realist and, you need luck, but you want to be in the top three,” he said.

“If you get the double chance, anything can happen.

“We will see where we sit after nine rounds but we will keep coming and coming and I think we can be in a pretty good position in the second-half of the season.”