The Murray Bushrangers head to Bendigo to face Geelong Falcons in much better form than last week.
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After a poor second half in round one, the Bushrangers produced the opposite on Good Friday against Bendigo Pioneers, piling on eight goals to one after half-time to run out 57-point winners.
Coach Leon Higgins is hoping his side can repeat that effort against the winless Falcons in Country Round, where all six country clubs play at the one venue.
“We managed to control the ball a lot better and created a bit more run from behind the footy,” Higgins said.
“Nick Murray did a terrific job on Will Holt who kicked five goals the week before, which shut down their scoring, and we got some good run from Lachie Ash and Will Chandler through the middle of the ground.”
Jordon Butts and Charlie Hill return to the fold this weekend, while Hudson Garoni, Matt Walker and Zane Barzen are all unavailable with AFL Academy duties, against VFL opposition.
“He’s (Hill) an excellent runner and he only got to play about 10 minutes of the first game before he got injured,” Higgins said.
“Jordon Butts has been a very good player for us over the last couple of years, he comes back as a 19-year-old.”
The game starts at 3pm at Queen Elizabeth Oval.
The team is:
B, Quinn, Murray, Chalcraft; hb, Vandermeer, Boyd, Ellis; c, Ash, Smith, Hill; hf, Frauenfelder, Koschitzke, Bice; f, Warner, St John, O’Dwyer; foll, Marriott, Amery, K. Clarke; inter, Kelly, Bradshaw, D. Clarke, Dang, Chandler, Butts; emerg, Boyer, Oates, Dayman