THE intense East and North Gambier rivalry will return to McDonald Park tomorrow, in the most anticipated round eight clash of Western Border football.
A tight battle awaits as both sides are in the mix for premiership contention and hope to build as much early momentum before crunch time in September.
Despite the Bulldogs going down by 34 points in the previous meeting this season, they will head into the rematch with a renewed scene of optimism.
This confidence will be drawn by new recruit Jeremy Clayton.
Former AFL player Clayton, has enjoyed great success at the SANFL level for Port Adelaide after a short stint at North Melbourne.
East playing coach Matt Willson will hope the Magarey Medallist can help bolster his injury-depleted side through the second half of the season and upset the Tigers.
The Bulldogs head into the home clash in strong form after a convincing victory over reigning premier Millicent.
East was well served by several players, but led by the consistent Jayden Eldridge through the midfield.
Willson remains deadly accurate and John Forster has gone in hard each game.
Regular scorers Kevin Thompson and Robert Brewster were among the goals again, while Mark Rumbelow and Giancarlo Cooper showed signs of returning to their best.
But one area the Bulldogs must improve if they are to challenge against North will be in the back-line against the one man who has set the season alight.
Tigers playing-coach Justin McConnell has been kicking majors for fun in his return to the competition with an amazing 32 goals in just six games.
The star-forward has only missed out on multiple majors once this season and is on track to replicate his 116-goal tally in his last full Western Border campaign in 2015.
Earlier this year a seven-goal haul led North to a big victory over East in round three, but on that day, the Bulldogs did not have a specialist defender to man the target.
Since then, the East backline has been led by key-defender Matt Scanlon, who comes into this match with strong form.
But McConnell’s strong presence in marking contests represents as the biggest challenge Scanlon will face this season and the result could hinge on how effective the Bulldog is in his attempts to slow the Tiger’s powerful force.
Aside from McConnell’s success, North appears a revived and impressive side in 2019 and will be hard to stop across the ground.
Hamish Telford has shown impressive form and can threaten the goals, while Matt McInerney has also been prolific since his return.
Nick McInerney and Fraser Marshall have been strong contributors across the centre and are well supported by ruckman Brett Kennedy.
A close fight could eventuate in the ruck-contests between Kennedy and East’s big man Kurt Rodis.
Kennedy has been in strong form lately, while Rodis has struggled to appear in the best in recent rounds.
The team which can wrestle the early advantage may take the premiership points as both sides blitzed their opponents in the first quarter last week.
However, the Tigers blew the Bulldogs away in the opening stages at Vansittart Park and will use a similar tactic to achieve the same result.
How East copes with the early onslaught will be crucial to the final result.
The Bulldogs will be keen to rediscover their magic at home after a disappointing performance against West Gambier, but tomorrow’s fixture represents as a difficult, yet rewarding opportunity.
As North has proven week in, week out, it is a strong outfit and will be tough to beat, but a revitalised East will give its best effort in a close game.
