Cygnet to go Lion hunting at Huonville as arch-rivals clash in SFL showdown

The biggest rivalry in the SFL will reignite on Saturday when undefeated Cygnet plays last year’s grand finalist Huonville Lions. Here’s what will be key.

Southern Football League: Lachy Watt playing coach of Cygnet Football Club and Callan Daly playing coach of Huonville Football Club. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Cygnet is bracing for what could be its toughest test of the season when it takes on cross-valley “enemy” Huonville Lions at Huonville Oval on Saturday and The Port will have reigning club champion Jakob Lister back to boost their chances of an 11th consecutive win.

It’s the biggest rivalry in the SFL and The Port’s coach Lachy Watt says the game will bring out the best in both teams.

Cygnet’s 61-point win over third placed Sorell at Cygnet Oval last Saturday laid the platform for their assault.

“It certainly sets us up well,” Watt said.

“Huonville are getting to the point where they have got a lot of experienced players back and we’re in a situation where we are playing good footy at the moment, so it’s going to be a massive contest.

“We are going to have to play our best against them.”

Lister, Cygnet’s 20223 best-and-fairest, was due back from a long-term hamstring injury for the Sorell match but tweaked it again at training on the Thursday night before the game.

“We ae pretty confident he will be back and Noah Clifford also had a minor hamstring [against Sorell] but he should be right to go,” Watt said.

Cygnet’s backline is the best in the business, having conceded only 314 points while their forwards have amassed 1264.

“We are really lucky with the backline that we’ve got,” Watt said.

“We don’t have any absolute superstars but what we’ve got is six or seven blokes who go in every week, don’t care how many kicks they get, they just go out there and get their job done.

“The number of goals conceded this year is a real credit to them because I think we are the lowest points against by a fair bit.”

Cygnet beat Huonville by 29 points at Cygnet in round three but Watt knows the Lions will be more dangerous this time at home.

“Every team likes to play their home ground well. It’s where you train, what you’re used to, where you play the most games,” he said.

“They’ve got three or four players back since we played them last time so we are expecting them to be a tough contest.”

Despite the magnitude of their defeat, Watt was impressed by Sorell’s improvement.

“They’ve battled away for the past few years and now they are really starting to find their feet,” he said.

“They are a young side, they’ve kept their group together and when you can do that you start to get better and better.

“They’ve got lots of young and exciting players and on their day they are as good as anyone.”