NORTH Ballarat Roosters have done everything possible to get experienced Nick Peters back for the last phase of the Victorian Football League season.
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Coach Gerard FitzGerald said with the Roosters having a “very ordinary” run with injuries patience has been pivotal in ensuring having Peters back on the park.
He said all the signs were good after Peters played 80 minutes with Bannockburn in the Geelong District Football League.
FitzGerald is looking to get a similar amount of game time out of Peters against Northern Blues at Eureka Stadium on Sunday. He certainly will not be pushing him over the top with just the four home and away matches remaining for the Selkirk Roosters.
While wins have been hard to come by for North Ballarat – just one in its latest four outings, against the winless Frankston a week ago – it can go into the match with some degree of confidence.
North Ballarat and the Blues each four wins for the season, and last time they met in mid-May it was the Roosters which prevailed by 21 points. The Carlton-aligned Blues are also on a losing run of three.
As well as the obvious objective of winning, FitzGerald said the Roosters had a clear focus for the next month. He said as always, it was all about improving – as individuals and as a team – on the training track and on match day.
FitzGerald said the Roosters were focusing on getting more of the football inside its attacking 50 metres. He said their average of 40 was well below where they wanted it to be and where it needed to be. And then when North Ballarat gets hold of the football in the zone, it needs to be more efficient and productive.
FitzGerald said while achieving this, the Roosters did not want to compromise the defensive side of their game, so were conscious of the need for patience. He said then were was a resolve to improve at stoppages.
FitzGerald said all the signs were that they were heading in the right direction, but each element needed to remain a clear focus.
How the Roosters line up for Sunday’s game (1.30pm):
B: Lockyer, Tippett*, Hoy
HB: Kiel, Boseley, Mullett*
C: Warren#, Dumont*, Tsitas
HF: George, Keeble, Nahas*
F: A Hooper, Black*, Peters
R: Stephenson, Sewell, McKenzie*
Inter: Preuss#, Rippon, Bacon, S Hooper**, Schache
Emerg: Anderson, Marshall, Staley, Lanyon
*North Melbourne listed
#North Melbourne rookie
