Dons coach eyes Hawks on road

Donnybrook coach Julian Burgess believes Augusta-Margaret River will be a tough elimination final opponent at Gloucester Park on Saturday.

A keen observer of the Hawks’ 60-point demolition of the Bulldogs at Payne Park on Sunday, Burgess felt the visitors looked very sharp.

Having said that, the Dons boss says there will be no excuses for the reigning premiers and that several players would be back in the side.

“We don’t mind where we play — that’s always been our mantra,” he said. “It’s just at the moment, we aren’t in good form and our backs are against the wall a little bit.

“But we’ll just keep plugging away.”

Burgess’s counterpart, Hawks coach Matthew Jamieson, said post-game that he was hopeful that his side would be at 100 per cent strength, with Ricky Cary likely to come back into the team.

Although happy with the win away from home against the Bulldogs, the Hawks coach wants the victory to be the start of more good things to come.

On Sunday at Glen Huon Reserve, the Eaton Boomers can begin their finals campaign with a bang if they defeat Bunbury in the qualifying final.

Boomers coach Brett Maguire is confident that his players are well aware of importance of starting the finals with a win.

“Our main focus has been around what we can do,” he said.

“We understand the importance of the game and who we play against.

“But we’ve also been focused on just playing our best footy. And we believe that if we play our best footy, it will be good enough.

“That’s been our major motivator.”

The Boomers enter the clash on the back of a 103-point win over South Bunbury, but the Boomers coach knows how things can often change when the finals hit.

“We’ve been through the season where we’ve been just waiting to get to the finals,” he said.

“And here we are now, getting ready for our first challenge. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Bulldogs coach Jamie Nani was anticipating three changes to his line up, with reliable defender Kane Bumann a strong chance to return.