LAST time West Gambier played Casterton Sandford, Lisa McGregor was missing and the Cats scraped home for a draw.
The Roos will not be in the mood to allow that kind of result again and will look to show why they are clearly the second ranked team in the competition.
McGregor, of course, will make a huge difference, despite the fact her replacement Sarah Ritter did a great job in the round two clash, but McGregor and Tahlia Earl have played years of netball together now and usually have good chemistry and an ability to work the space to find good shooting range.
Emily Hunter is the new face in that attack line, running centre and she has come off a huge weekend at the Country Championships where she was arguably the best mid-courter in the A Grade competition, earning her place in the Championship Top 10.
The Roos’ defensive line is solid, with Hunter doing her best work at that end as well, with the tight checking Carly Trevilyan and the relentless pressure of Amy Cram.
However, Cram is without her defensive partner Maddy Teakle, which will see a change to the Roos’ line-up this weekend.
For Casterton Sandford, Tori Perry and Christine Harris look a more settled combination in goals and they had their best outing in their breakthrough round-six win over South.
Marlee Gartlan and Sharna Fidler have also improved as a defensive combination, but they will need the midcourt to pressure the feeds if they are to stop McGregor and Earl from scoring.
Madalene Cleary is part of that mid court and she is coming off an SA Country Championships, where she was a circle defender for the championship winning Western Border
side.
But her defensive efforts, along with the always-reliable Scarlett Jarrad and the speed and tenacity of Gaby Tomkins and Gabby Sullivan will ensure the Roos do not have it all their own way, but West should still secure a comfortable win.
