James Murphy
VICTORY will be on the minds of the Blue Lake Knights when they hit the road for Round 9 of the Limestone Coast Rugby League season.
It follows their first win of the year against Gunditjmara Bulls last week, where the Knights finally fielded a full-strength team.
Now they face a roadtrip to Warrnambool to face the Raiders on their home deck, with hopes to double that win count.
The Raiders sit just one position above the bottom-placed Knights in fourth, with three wins from seven games.
A win will be crucial for the Knights to remain in the finals race, after their first six games rewarded just the one win.
Speaking to The Border Watch after last round’s win, Blue Lake playing coach Lloyd Pearce-Raisin remained quietly hopeful of a finals appearance.
“If we tick all the boxes we might be able to sneak into finals,” he said.
However, he was under no illusions and knew his team would have to put in a faultless performance over the final four rounds of the home-and-away season.
He expected a “big challenge” against Warrnambool this week, but said the Knights had gained confidence from their triumph over the Bulls.
In that match the accurate boot of Brent Dries proved the difference in the four-point win, as he converted five tries from five attempts.
He has been an integral part of the team throughout the opening rounds with plenty of experience.
“He has played some pretty high up footy and played juniors in the Newcasltle Knights system,” Pearce-Raisin said.
“He doesn’t miss many (tries).”
Also looking to back up their Round 8 performances are the likes of Karl Schaefer, Jake Witty and Cooper Hodge, while Vereti Bilitaki will be out to add to his try count after two last week.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 2pm at Friendlies Society Park.
