Coburg Tigers flag intentions
04 August 2007 Herald Sun
Geoff Poulter
SECOND-placed Coburg Tigers are keen to test themselves against the two main flag contenders in the final four rounds.
They clash with Geelong (third) this morning at Skilled Stadium and then face an away game against ladder-leader Sandringham in Round 20 on August 25.
"They are clearly the class sides of the competition this year," Coburg coach Andrew Collins said this week.
"It is an exciting challenge to play at Geelong this week and then we've got Sandringham in a couple of weeks."
Collins is also chuffed about playing the curtain-raiser to the Geelong-Richmond game.
"I would encourage the VFL to do that bit more," he said.
"There are some special games played as curtain-raisers to an AFL game when it could easily have been VFL games.
"We have that opportunity with the alignments.
"It would be great to have the Coburg Tigers playing on the MCG before the Richmond Tigers (Coburg's affiliate)."
Collins said his side would be near full-strength today.
"We think we have a pretty good team in," he said. "We are also playing Mitch Farmer, the under-18 boy from the Calder Cannons.
"The local (VFL) list is standing up really strongly.
"To finish in the top four would be a wonderful achievement. We want to be able to play some good finals footy which would be a great experience for all the young boys."
Coburg bowed out in an elimination final at Frankston last season.
"We have already reached our target to win more games than last year," Collins said.
"Our target was finish top three in the reserves and top four in the seniors.
"We went into the season not knowing what to expect but knowing we had some specially talented young boys.
"We had turned over about 30 players on the Coburg list and Richmond had turned over quite a few as well."
A VFL club's fortunes rely heavily on the injuries suffered by their AFL affiliates.
"Richmond has been good with their injury management," Collins said.
"They have had some injuries to key players which has affected their performance. But the overall numbers have probably been average."
Geelong's attack will test Coburg, with Tom Hawkins selected at full-forward.
Half-forward/winger Jason Davenport, rookie-listed at AFL level with Geelong, kicked eight goals in his most recent game against Port Melbourne.
Quick, skilled and durable, he starred for the combined VFL side in the May against Western Australia and looks a ready-made AFL prospect.
Coburg will look to midfielder Andrew Krakouer and forwards Jay Schulz, Daniel Jackson and Chris Hyde to stretch the Cats.
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