Corowa-Rutherglen recruit points to juniors for club's improvement

The Roos are currently fifth on percentage, but have a chance to move a game clear of Wodonga Raiders, who also boast a three-three record.

"Obviously you need to beat everyone around you and Raiders are also in that middle tier of the ladder," Marks offered.

"If we are going to play finals, we have to attack these as must-win games."

The Roos were expected to be one of the big improvers after a bumper off-season, but many outsiders have been stunned they're in the top five after six rounds.

"Yeah, definitely, it's always been a factor for Corowa-Rutherglen, it's always seen as the little brother or underdog," he explained.

"But I know watching the last couple of years there's quite a lot of players who've now played 70, 80, 100 games.

"I think as much as a couple of recruits, like Tom (Goodwin) and Charlie (Nastasi) have probably expedited that growth, I think it's really come from the guys like Joe Hansen, Hayden Filliponi, these guys are still in their early 20s and playing good footy."

Marks, who returned home after five years with Spotswood in the Western Region Football League, has featured in the past fortnight, including the stunning upset of premiers Lavington on May 1.

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The Roos will start slight outsiders at home against Raiders on Saturday.

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