WANGARATTA coach Brendan Cairns refuses to get carried away with the Magpies’ impressive opening round win against Wodonga Raiders.
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Why? Because the team that blitzed last season’s runner-up by 83 points lays in wait – Albury.
The Tigers were ominous in disposing of Lavington and will field another powerful unit at the Albury Sportsground despite Daniel Cross, Setanta and Aisake O’hAilpin dropping out of the side that played the Panthers.
Making matters more difficult for the Pies, bookends Michael Newton (hamstring) and David Thayer (ankle) are sidelined through injury.
“We take a bit of confidence out of round one but Raiders probably had an interrupted week leading into it, which might have worked in our favour,” he said.
“Albury has been the benchmark of the competition for the past seven or eight years and it’s a great opportunity for our blokes to see where they’re at.”