Grand final defeats are all the motivation Lauderdale needs to keep striving to unlock North puzzle
Lauderdale’s co-captain has dismissed any suggestions of mental demons at the club as his side prepares for the 2020 season opener.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THREE consecutive grand final losses is all the motivation Lauderdale needs to go one better in 2020 but co-captain Josh McGuinness won’t buy into any talk of “demons” at the club.
The Bombers closed the gap on North Launceston from 2017 to last year but still came up short on the big stage in September.
Now as he prepares for the season opener against Clarence on Saturday afternoon, McGuinness is confident the club has the firepower to again be a force, and dismisses any suggestions of mental scarring.
“We’ve lost three now, if that’s not enough motivation to keep you going I don’t know what is, but in terms of last year’s grand final, I haven’t really thought about it at all too much over the pre-season,” McGuinness said.
“People often ask or say ‘do you have any demons’ but in reality there isn’t any demons, it is just another game, it was a grand final and a big game and we don’t like losing them.
“But we don’t go into a season thinking ‘we don’t want to make a grand final in case we lose another one’.
“We definitely have the group to challenge for a flag, the group definitely feels like we have the assets.
“It’s definitely going to be very important to get a good start and hopefully we can kick off against Clarence.”
The Roos head into the contest at SkyBus Oval without boom recruit Josh Green, who will miss his return to the TSL after suffering a broken nose in an intraclub practice match.
McGuinness — who was a teammate with Green at Brisbane during his two years on the Lions list — said it was disappointing to not see the goal sneak on the field but expects him to light up the competition in the coming weeks.
“It is a little bit disappointing we won’t see him out there tomorrow, he is obviously a pretty handy player, played 100-plus games in the AFL and has a lot of experience.
“It would be good for both the young Clarence team but also people coming to watch.”
‘We need to make money’: Gale’s push for new Devils home
Tasmania Devils boss Brendon Gale has declared a new stadium can play a key role in altering the club’s “destiny” and its “competitive strength” upon entry into the AFL. His say on the hot topic here.
Inside Gale’s plans to lead Tassie Devils pack
On his first day in the job, homecoming AFL hero Brendon Gale admitted he was under no illusion about the task confronting him as the inaugural chief executive of the Tasmania Devils.