Lauderdale to launch into reduced State League quarters as coach strives to let players off leash

Lauderdale coach Darren Winter has declared he won’t let his side play “boring football” in the shortened TSL season, aware of the need to hit the ground running.

Lauderdale coach Darren Winter wants his players to play free flowing football in 2020. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

LAUDERDALE coach Darren Winter has promised he will let his side off the leash in 2020 in an attempt to take advantage of the shorter TSL quarters.

Like the AFL, the State League has trimmed 20 per cent of playing time per quarter for the reduced season which kickstarts next weekend.

The Bombers — who have been bridesmaids for three consecutive years to powerhouse North Launceston — plan on adopting an attacking game plan to pile on the points.

“There is no time for error, you’ve got to get in there and get it done and if you don’t get it done you are going to miss the finals,” Winter said.

“The way we are tackling it, we are going to have a very attacking style of game we want to play, there won’t be a great deal of defence as such.

“Our defence will be trying to attack as much as we can and try and get the score on the board early.

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“But we also don’t know how that’s going to affect blokes, particularly after not having that bash and crash type of pre-season.

“I saw what [Hawthorn coach Alastair] Clarkson said, I think they have gone to this chip and control game and it is quite boring, and to be honest I don’t want to play that way with our boys.

“We want to have some fun and try and kick a big score, even if it is reduced quarters.”

With it now 10 months since Lauderdale went down to the northern Bombers for the third straight time in the grand final, Winter said the club has moved on from the pain of another defeat.

Darren Winter Lauderdale coach stands with the Lauderdale playing group after a third straight grand final defeat last year. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

And although their northern counterparts are widely expected to be the yardstick following their off season acquisitions, Winter refuses to focus on anything outside his four walls.

“We addressed that [the grand final] earlier in the pre-season, but it is a long time ago, we won’t look back on it now.

“There has been a lot of talk of them having the whole north of the state, then obviously there are competitions falling over and they are picking up players.

“If we sit back and worry about that, we are not going to be able to move forward.

“If other clubs worry about that and don’t focus on getting better themselves, we have no chance of beating them.

“At the end of the day we just have to get a lot better than what we have been and if we can do that, we might be able to take the next step.”