Tathra stalwarts Luke Taylor and Troy O’Loghlin could be key this weekend if the Tathra Sea Eagles are to advance in the Sapphire Coast AFL finals series.
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Both Taylor and O’Loghlin are some of the most capped players in the current senior Eagles outfit and have plenty of finals experience with about 10 premiership flags between them.
O’Loghlin has been consistently a key performer out of the middle for the Sea Eagles throughout this season, but Taylor has been injecting himself more and more into play and is coming off the back of being named the club’s best and fairest.
It’s a well-earned title for the versatile player, who has both coached and captained the club to multiple flags in the past decade.
It’s going to be no small task for the Sea Eagles, who have had a rough season after a strong start with their last outing at Pambula favouring the hosts.
This Saturday’s clash will be a rematch so it boils down to a case of will the club switch things up once more in the hopes of getting everything to click or can the club ‘empty the tank’ as it were and leaving nothing left on the table to try and punch over the line.
It’s a do-or-die scenario with the winner going on to likely face the Merimbula Diggers in the preliminary final, while the loser will be handed a one-way ticket home.
And it’s not just the seniors with something on the line this weekend as the dominant women’s and reserve grade outfits have both also slipped to third on the leaderboard and face possible elimination.
The women’s roster were pretty tight-lipped about their plans ahead of Saturday when they would face the Narooma Lions outfit at the Pambula Sporting Complex.
“We are confident with our playing style and look forward to a good contest,” Cymmon Parker said ahead of the weekend.
The Eaglettes are coming off the back of two losses including a last-round loss to the Pambula Panthers, but that was by just two points.
The Sea Eagles reserves also took a late season tumble down the table after sharing the lead with Merimbula have slipped to third behind the Panthers.
The reserves will also face the Lions and are hoping to bounce back to the their early-season form.
It will be the first time the two clubs have met since round 12, when Tathra claimed a 30-point victory.
Saturday’s opening final round will be an elimination contest at the Pambula Sporting Complex.
Senior play will go ahead with the reserve grade from 11.50am.
Everyone is encouraged to head along.