A Restart for the Tigers!

Last weeks bye for the entire club could not have come at a better time according to Coach Adrian Pavese.

The Tigers have struggled through mid season with injury concerns and will look for a fresh start against Eastlake in the AFL Canberra Heritage Round 18 at Diary Farmers Park on Sunday.

The Heritage Round is being played as part of the AFL Canberra Centenary celebrations. The match at Queanbeyan places the two oldest clubs in the League against each other.

Queanbeyan being formed in 1925, Eastlake in 1926. Eastlake will wear the white jumper with red sash made so famous be their dominance in the sixties while the Tigers will wear the combine colours of the Queanbeyan/ Acton era during which they participated in five grand finals for three premierships.

The bye last weekend leaves their season still up in the air even though two games out of the four with five rounds remaining. Four of the five games are at Dairy Farmers Park with the other on the Gold Coast against Southport next weekend.

Although the bye came at a good time, the Tigers showed enough courage and determination against a quality Ainslie combination in Round 16 to look forward to the last five games of the season. They have some difficult matches to play against ladder leaders Sydney Swans Reserves and last years premiers Ainslie

Firstly the Tigers will have to overcome a determined Demons outfit on Sunday after their dismal showing last Saturday against last year’s grand final opponent Ainslie. A ten goal thrashing will see them out for revenge against a Tigers team hell bent on improving from their last encounter with the Kingston based club a few weeks ago.

Coach Pavese is looking forward to regaining the services of Matt Liddle and Mitch Daniher after enforced layoffs due to injury. But whether they will be rushed back into the senior team is another matter. Casey Walsh is also due back after being unavailable for the past three games.