After sliding down to fifth spot on the NEAFL ladder last week, NT Thunder will make the trip to the nation’s capital on the weekend when they face the Canberra Demons at a chilly Manuka Oval.
The matchup, scheduled as an AFL curtain-closer to the Giants-Tigers game, will be the first time Thunder has ever travelled to Canberra.
Thunder meet the Demons for the second time this season, this time on Canberra’s home turf. The opposition won’t be Thunder’s only enemy when the game gets underway, with temperatures expected to drop down to an icy minus three degrees for the seven o’clock bounce.
It is an important game for the Territory team who have lost three of their last five games, including two at home. After last week’s upsetting loss to a prepared Aspley outfit and with four rounds remaining, an uphill battle awaits the fifth-placed Thunder.
The Demons, however, sit at the bottom of the NEAFL ladder with just two wins under their belt for the season. The Canberra side have come off a bye round and two big losses to teams across the pond in the Swans Reserves and Sydney University.
The last time the Demons met Thunder was in Round 8 when they copped a 98-point thrashing at TIO Stadium.
Head Coach Xavier Clarke said it is an important match for the Thunder ahead of the finals.
“The great thing about the NEAFL competition is that if you finish anywhere in the top six on the ladder you are still within a chance,” Clarke said.
“We need to start strongly and finish off as well as we know we can, we’re a finals team and we should be playing finals.”
Key defenders Jack Long and Neil Vea Vea headline the inclusions for NT Thunder with Gibson Turner also set to return to the side, listed as an emergency.
Utility Jared Brennan will miss the game after suffering an ankle injury in the second term of last round’s clash against Aspley while the classy Justin Cooper is unavailable.
Daly Shannon and Jack Shannahan will also remain home after sustaining similar foot injuries in last round’s match against the Hornets.
CANBERRA DEMONS vs NT THUNDER
7pm AEST Manuka Oval
Saturday 30 July 2016
By Levi Dobson