The Murray Bombers face their biggest challenge of the season in a Euroa side that has been on a 10-game winning streak since its 43-point defeat to Echuca in round two.
Murray Bombers’ coach Simon Maddox isn’t reading too much into that game, however.
“It was only the second game for the season and they may have been a fraction underdone, who knows,” Maddox said.
“It was a pretty hot game last time, very physical and heated last time we played them over there, and we expect nothing less again.
“It will be a red-hot encounter. (Euroa) are hard to beat at the best of times let alone when they have won 10 in a row.
Echuca will welcome back co-coach Andrew Walker (27.8 disposals) and with Euroa’s three-pronged attack of Erishmiilan Uthayakumar (27 goals), Tristan Davies (26), and Jett Trotter (27) looming large, the return of key defender Tom Monahan is a timely boost.
Head-to-head, the numbers provided by GVL Data read much like each team’s ladder position.
Echuca vs Euroa (season averages)
359.1 (1st) Disposals 343.3 (2nd)
139.5 (1st) Contested Possessions 135.8 (2nd)
225.4 (1st) Uncontested Possessions 210.6 (2nd)
100.3 (1st) Marks 89.7 (3rd)
21.2 (1st) F50 Marks 16.5 (2nd)
Both sides are the league leaders in disposals, contested possessions, uncontested possessions, and marks inside-50.
After a tight first-quarter tussle in round two, the Murray Bombers climbed over the top of the Magpies in the second and third quarters on the back of a superior uncontested footy count.
Maddox isn’t expecting too much free ball movement this time around, and he’s encouraging the local GVL faithful to get down to Memorial Oval for a high-quality brand of football.
“(The win) was 10 weeks ago; a lot of things have changed and they haven’t dropped a game since then,” he said.
“They’re obviously flying and they beat us last year at Euroa. It’s first versus second so it’s a good mid-season test of where we’re really at.
“We always take it one week at a time. I know it’s an old cliché but we’re pretty methodical with how we go about it.”
In positive news for Echuca, Maddox also confirmed that star recruit Sam Reid is on track to return after the split round bye after missing most of the season through an injury sustained in round one.
Echuca and Euroa do battle at Memorial Oval from 2:35pm.
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