SWFL 2022: South Bunbury and Augusta-Margaret River to face off in Saturday night blockbuster at Hands Oval

Hands Oval is set to be the stage for a Saturday night blockbuster when premiership fancies South Bunbury host reigning premiers Augusta-Margaret River. With both teams only separated by percentage going into the Belt Up Round match, South Bunbury will be looking to obtain their third win in a row while the Hawks will look to continue building on their winning streak that dates back to round two. South Bunbury are coming off a convincing 13.11 (89) to 7.5 (47) win over Carey Park while Augusta-Margaret River returns from a bye week. Tigers coach Julian Burgess said the squad will be focusing on getting their game structures right against “the best side in the comp”. “We’re looking forward to that challenge,” he said. “We just want to make sure we’re getting better week in and week out. “Our structures are going pretty good and we’re gelling as a side so we just want to see where we fit in the landscape and put our best foot forward.” Burgess said Jesse Crichton is a chance to return this week after spending the past number of weeks dealing with injury and COVID-19. “Most clubs have had two or three out each week with COVID but hopefully this week we might be okay,” he said. “You just never know though — a few weeks ago we got the call on the Friday night that a few of our guys had tested positive. “We’ve still got Shaun Crane out due to a long term injury but we should be good to go.” Hawks coach Matt Jamieson said the squad will be focusing on “playing their brand” against South Bunbury. “We’ll be looking to come out with a fast start after the week off,” he said. “We’ve had a relatively good start to the year so that will be the aim going into Saturday night. “We’re quite comfortable with the personnel we’ve got so we can only control how we play.” While COVID-19 continues to affect the club, Jamieson said he was confident the Hawks will have a strong line-up going into the match. “There’s been disruptions with COVID and injury but that’s just footy,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep going and deal with it week to week and I think we’re about 80 per cent of the way through dealing with COVID-19 so hopefully there won’t be too much talk about that for much longer.” The last time the Tigers and the Hawks met was during round 12 at Hands Oval last year, where the Hawks edged out the Tigers 7.8 (50) to 6.9 (45).