SFL Round 4 live stream: Cygnet take on Huonville Lions in first Battle of the Huon for 2023

Huonville have emerged as the team to beat this season after sinking the previously unbeaten Cygnet as one of the SFL’s most celebrated rivalries made its 2023 bow. Relive all the action.

Huonville Lions have won the opening Battle of the Huon for 2023 in style, taking down Cygnet by 42 points on the back of a huge third-quarter surge.

The game was nicely poised at halftime after Cygnet had battled back from an early 28-point deficit to reduce the margin to just nine points, before a late goal to the hosts extended their advantage to 15.

But the Lions asserted their superiority in the third quarter, kicking 28 unanswered points to clear away to a 95-53 victory.

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SFLW Round 4 - Huonville Lions v The Port

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Cygnet will enter the Lion’s den this weekend as the SFL’s biggest rivalry adds another chapter in a huge Battle of the Huon showdown between the two early season flag favourites.

The undefeated foes will both enter Saturday’s clash at Huonville Oval in red-hot form, with both the Port and the Lions winning their opening two clashes, including impressive wins over last year’s undefeated premier Lindisfarne.

And you can catch every minute of the match - and the earlier SFLW match between the two rivals - LIVE on KommunityTV from 12.30pm.

Huonville Lions co-captain Rhys Ward said there was always extra motivation when facing their Huon Valley rival.

“It’s always the one to pin on the calendar early in the year that we all look forward to,” Ward said.

“Both the communities of Huonville and Cygnet really get around it, so it’ll be a great day for everyone involved and there’s definitely a bit of bragging rights there.

Cygnet’s Will Cleeland and Huonville star Rhys Ward. Picture: Chris Kidd

“Obviously the four points are most important but we’d love to let them know we have it (bragging rights).”

With a 43-point win over the Two Blues and a 25-point win over Sorell to open the season, Ward felt the 2023 Lions were a more professional and organised side than last season’s team that bowed out in the preliminary final against their upcoming opponent.

The star ruckman said a major reason behind their improvement was the return of popular coach Nick Doyle.

“Nick Doyle is back after coaching from 2017 to 2019 and everyone loves him,” Ward said.

“He’s well liked around the whole team and the community so we are very happy to have him on-board, and it’s been a really good start under him. There’s a sense of more professionalism that I think we lacked last year having to scrape together a team and a coach at the last minute.

“So being more organised and professional have been the big thing for us so far this year.”

As well as Doyle’s return, Ward said the inclusion of bustling forward Daniel Archer, as well as the return of former players such as Callum Rawson and Brody Rundell had been huge for the club.

With a number of new pieces, Ward said the Lions would only get better as the season went on.

The last time the two sides met was in the 2022 qualifying final.

“It’s been a bit of work in progress working with three big tall players (up forward) but I think, as we progress through the season, that’ll continue to work better and better as they get used to playing with each other and understanding how each other move,” he said.

“At times they’ve been working really well, but we are working on consistency on our entries to them to make their jobs easier and use their assets.

“We couldn’t have asked for much more, but we still have a few things we are working on that we want to piece together with new members back in the team and what not, but with two wins we can’t complain, we are pretty happy.”

The Lions skipper said his side was preparing for its biggest test yet on Saturday.

“They’re going to be a big step up for us this week,” he said.

“They’re a pretty hard in and under team, they always have been, so winning stoppage is going to be a key in the game.”