BAROOGA has plenty of moti-ation going into its round 7 fixture against Nathalia on Saturday.
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Not only is it the club’s heritage round, celebrating its past players and achievements, but it is also Dylan Brooks’ 250th game for the club.
But Hawks coach Leigh Ramsdale isn’t expecting an easy ride.
“Nathalia has had a couple of unexpected losses but they are still one of the premiership fancies,” he said.
“They’re a classy side and they’ve picked up six or seven premiership players, so they’re definitely in the hunt this year.
“So you can expect at that standard if we’re not on song and not at our best it’s going to be very hard to win.”
Nevertheless, the Hawks will want to rise to the occasion as past players and supporters watch on, while the players wear the club’s original guernsey with numbers allocated from a premiership year gone by.
“If you rely on motivation alone you’re probably kidding yourself, modern football is bit more structured,” Ramsdale said.
“But our heritage round is recognition of the efforts of people gone by and of the great things people have done for our club.
“And it’s a reminder we want to be remembered for the right reasons and have an impact on the club’s history.”
So far this season Ramsdale’s team has been doing just that, even depleted by injuries.
Having a 5-1 record, he said the Hawks were still far from having being able to field their best team.
“But if we keep snatching these wins we’ll set ourselves up for a very good year,” Ramsdale said.
Adding to their ranks, Dom Nixon will return from injury, as will Cal Leighton-Daly, who has missed the past 18 months through knee injuries.
Sam Ryan will also be back from a broken arm suffered in pre-season.
Ramsdale said the Brooks name went “hand-in-hand” with Barooga.
“He’s a quality player; he’s also back this week and will be another good in for us,” he said.