JUSTIN Koschitzke doesn’t feel like Lavington has taken a backward step in 2016.
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He thinks the rest of the Ovens and Murray has taken a step forward.
Five rounds into the season, the Panthers have lost two matches to sit fourth on the table.
That comes after they lost three matches for the entire home and away season in 2015, a year which saw them break Yarrawonga’s six-year stranglehold on a grand final day date with Albury.
Lavington’s bid to improve on its runner-up effort last season suffered a blow in round one when star recruit Luke Gestier tore his anterior cruciate ligament.
“Certainly no one internally has been happy with the start,” Koschitzke said.
“We got taught a lesson by Albury in round one, then Wang, the Raiders and North Albury all gave us a good run before losing to Myrtleford so it hasn’t been the ideal start.
“It’s great for the comp because for the last few years there’s been two or three and then the rest and a lot of the games you’d go to knowing the winner straight away.
“There’s a bit of excitement around now and we’re right amongst it.
“A few sides have been building for a couple of years now and they know what it takes to compete with the top two or three sides.
“We’re under no illusions.
“We know we’ll have to have a red-hot crack just to play finals this year.”
The Panthers welcome Koschitzke, Matt Pendergast and Tom Hargreave into the side to tackle Wodonga at Lavington on Saturday after going down to Myrtleford in round five.
Koschitzke said the Panthers were desperate to bounce back against the Bulldogs, who are a better team than their 1-4 record suggests.
“I feel like we have taken a couple of steps forward so that’s a good sign that the other clubs are coming pretty hard,” he said.
“I don’t feel like we’ve gone backwards at all, I think the competition has just strengthened around it.”
Wodonga coach Dean Harding said the Bulldogs were looking forward to taking on the Panthers, with heavy rain forecast for Saturday afternoon.
“We know Lavington is a really good side – they’re really well structured,” he said.
“They’ve got a good mix of young guys and older heads along with the talls and the quicks.
“We’re looking forward to a really good day over there.
“Wet weather won’t hurt us, we’ve had some really good results in the heavy stuff.”
