Western Bulldogs premiership player Shane Biggs is excited to come to Ballarat for the first-ever AFL fixture at MARS Stadium.
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The Dogs will host Port Adelaide in round 22 on August 19 in a game that looks set to hold plenty of meaning for both clubs as the reigning premiers fight for a chance to defend its flag while the Power are vying for top four.
Biggs said the group was looking forward to playing on the state-of-the-art facility and hoped the club could form Mars Stadium into a home away from home and reap the benefits, much like Hawthorn has at Launceston’s University of Tasmania Stadium.
“It’s exciting. It’s been building for a while, we get down there as much as we can,” Biggs said.
“We’ve played a few NAB games there so to play a real game there, it’ll be nice to have another home away from home. We can’t wait to get down there in a couple of weeks’ time.
“Hawthorn with Tasmania have made it their second home, I’m sure we’ll eventually be able to make it a good place to play for us.
“It’s always nice to play at home and if you can have two of them, it is a bit of an advantage.”
Biggs said Mars Stadium had always been “a good deck” and the redevelopments of the rooms and grandstands have made it one of the best regional facilities going around. Biggs said it was going to be a huge game not just in a historical sense but for the make-up of the final eight.
We can’t wait to get down there in a couple of weeks' time.
- Bulldog Shane Biggs
“It’s going to be a huge game, all the games for the rest of the year are massive for us.
“It really is just worry about the next week, that’s what we did well last year, we were pretty grounded and Bevo (coach Luke Beveridge) got us thinking about next week. That’s what we’ve done this last month and we’re going to have to do it for the next month if we’re going to see some finals.”
Biggs said despite the slow start to the season, the side had not lost confidence in its ability and having won three games in a row a spot in the top eight was firmly in its sights.
“We’ve always had that confidence among the group all year even though it hasn’t quite gone to plan. The last three weeks we’ve been building, a bit of momentum, there’s even more confidence within the group.”