Lauderdale forwards hoping to pile on the pain for the Tigers in final round of TSL

Only 42 points stand between Lauderdale being the TSL’s top-scoring team this season and to get there, the Bombers will try to open the flood gates on the Tigers

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WITH little to gain for Lauderdale in its final round clash with the Tigers at Lauderdale Oval today coach Darren Winter has set his side the challenge of ending the home-and-away series as the TSL’s highest-scoring team.

Win, lose or draw, the Bombers can’t lose third spot on the ladder.

But they can be the most prolific team in attack, and that is what Winter has demanded from his men in the final round on their home track.

To make that happen, not only do their forwards need to play their part, but Lauderdale will send its best “attack dog” Bryce Walsh to tenacious Tiger Kieran Lovell in an attempt to stifle his dominance and cut off supply at the other end.

Round 9 TSL game between Clarence v Lauderdale from Richmond Oval. Lauderdale's Bryce Walsh. Picture: Zak Simmonds

“Bryce usually goes to Lovell. They’re two hard-nosed players at the footy,” Winter said.

“Lovell reads the play and he is so good in and out of traffic. He moves well rarely gets caught with the ball.

“He’s an elite kick as well, so we need to put a lot of pressure on him not to have that influence with his foot skills.

“We back Bryce to win the ball, and they obviously back Lovell to win it, so it will be a great battle.”

Going into the match, Lauderdale has a total of 751 points, second only to Launceston (793), which has the bye in the final round.

Boasting three players in the TSL’s top 10 goal kickers _ Toutai Havea (17), Luke Nelson (16) and Harry Richmond (12) _ the Bomber’s forward pack will be a handful for the Tigers.

“In the past four weeks Harry has been pretty sharp, and Toutai is the old fashioned power forward,” Winter said.

“Our forward line has been damaging but our backline has leaked a few too many goals.

“We have a team defence, so it’s not all their fault, as a team we need to defend better going into finals.”