Lauderdale coach Allen Christensen and Josh McGuinness strong chances for senior returns against Launceston

Two of Lauderdale’s most important players are right in the frame for senior returns following successful comebacks from injury in round three.

Lauderdale duo Josh McGuinness (left) and Allen Christensen (right) are both in the frame for senior returns after playing development league against Glenorchy. Pictures: Linda Higginson and Nikki Davis-Jones.

Lauderdale coach Allen Christensen and former skipper Josh McGuinness are both in the frame to make their senior returns in round four following successful returns from injury in the development league on Saturday.

After missing the opening two rounds of the season, the duo played managed minutes in the Bombers big 157-point D-League win over Glenorchy with Christensen finishing with four goals and McGuinness kicking three from extended game time through the midfield.

Set to face Launceston at SkyBus Oval this weekend, Christensen said they were every chance to return to the senior line-up should they pull up well during the week.

“Josh and I got through well but we probably ended up playing more minutes than we wanted too after losing a few players during the game,” Christensen said.

“Josh pulled up really well and looked really good and should be ready to go next week.

“It’s all good from my end and we’ve both done a lot of work over the last four or five weeks to make sure we are ready to go. We will have to keep an eye on how we progress during the week but all indications are that we will hopefully be back into senior footy this week.”

Former Tiger Jordan Lane could also return via the development league against Launceston after an injury riddled pre-season. Photo: Anthony Corke

Christensen also revealed star recruit Jordan Lane would follow a similar path back to the senior side with the former Kingborough tall a strong chance to line-up in the development league this week.

The possible return of the two of their star players comes fresh off the Bombers first win of the season with their 88-point rout of Glenorchy coming off the back of two equally strong showings in defeat against fellow finals contenders North Launceston and Clarence to start the season.

Cam Hooker (six goals) and Andrew Phillips (five) were prolific inside 50 with Christensen full of praise for Hooker’s start to the season after finishing with 23 disposals, 10 marks and 3.4 last week against North Launceston.

“Cam was also outstanding last week but was really disappointed with his finishing (for goal),” Christensen said.

“So his ability to come out and kick straight and have five to halftime really set the tone for us. He works bloody hard and for him to get that reward shows him what that hard work can do.

“He has completely changed his body shape and work ethic from the last time he was playing TSL footy so he is a completely different player than what he was. He has that ability to transition a lot more and get to spots he might not previously been able too. His work ethic is just off the show.”

Former Dodges Ferry captain Cam Hooker has made an immediate impact on his return to Lauderdale. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

A 14-goal to one first-half was the set up for victory with Christensen quickly shifting his focus to games against the Blues and North Hobart ahead of a bye in round six.

“Offensively (it’s as good as we’ve played),” he said.

“We were just able to make the most of our opportunities and we’ve been in every game this season (despite the losses) but we were just able to put scoreboard pressure on yesterday.

“This gets us on the journey now and we’ve spoken a lot about it just being a step by step process and the focus now is to bank those next four points.”