After facing a strong Berrigan team last week at home, the Blighty senior football side were competitive early before going down by 129 points.
The Redeyes come up against another strong opponent in the form of Picola United, who have had wins against Katunga, Rennie and Mathoura to start the year.
Blighty senior football coach Dane Leyden said his team came up against a quality Berrigan opposition last weekend while also affected by injuries.
“Firstly, credit to the Saints, they were really good at spreading from the contest in the midfield.
“We could make a few excuses as we lost three or four in that, playing one or two down in each line, and they were pretty important players that we lost.
“And then at that stage it was just about trying to recoup as best we could despite having less energy available.”
As for Blighty’s defensive strategy, Leyden said his defenders were competitive despite the circumstances, keeping Berrigan inaccurate with 25 behinds to 23 goals.
“The boys in defence did their best.
“The Saints have got a few good forwards and I think we did well to contain one, but then another got out and kicked a few goals.
“I’d give some credit to our defenders winning several of their 50/50s, again, Berrigan just had a really good spread.
The defensive challenges won’t ease for the Redeyes this week as they face a potent Picola United forward line.
Picola United have three of the league’s top 10 leading goal kickers so far, with Cody Haub having kicked 15 goals, while Blake Jorgensen and Taylor Beard have kicked 10 goals each from their three games this season.
Last year’s match was a difficult match up for Blighty at Picola, with the home side winning by 208 points as Haub kicked eight and Jorgensen kicked five.
As for what can be improved defensively this week, Leyden said the Redeyes have some plans in place.
“I’d encourage the mids and wings to try and get back and drop in the hole in defensive 50.
“I’m also hoping for more rotations with a few extra bodies this week.
“Also, hopefully, this week we can put pressure on the opposing mids as the delivery going in last week was pretty slick.
“If the pressure is good, then we can hope for the best and back in our backs to win their 50/50s.”
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