Coaches corner: Rowan knows there’s a target on his side’s back after grand final appearance

The News sports journalists have done the rounds, spoken to the coaches and found out what is on their minds ahead of the weekend.

Euroa coach: Scott Rowan

“We know that playing in the grand final last year, sides are going to come after us a lot more and you have to be on your game each week – we weren’t that last week.

“The main positive from last week is we’ve learnt where and what we needed to improve on, and we’ve tried to address that this week.

We know that (Shepparton United) are young and quick and they’ll be excited to have a crack at us.

“We’re very wary of what they might bring, but we’re also excited to get back on our home deck and make amends for last week.

“Erish (Uthayakumar) will play his first game for the year and that certainly helps straighten us up – it’s fantastic to have him back in the team. ”

Benalla co-coach: Will Martiniello

“It’s no lie we’re a little bit disappointed with the start to the year we’ve had.

“Last week’s game against Tatura was a very winnable game for us, especially at home.

“But we always knew it was going take a bit of time for us to gel as a group, with a whole lot of new players coming on board from last year.

“It’s going to be a challenge up against Mansfield on their home deck, they’ve always been a big rival of ours.

“It’ll be another good game to get some much-needed experience for the team group and hopefully improve on last week.”

Rochester coach: Ash Watson

“It’s massive for us to get some confidence in the group.

“They’re on the right track, we’re developing some kids and we’re trying some new things and we need to get this win to elevate that I suppose.

“If we play our style of footy, hopefully we can get the chocolates on the weekend.

“I expect a good challenge from Shepparton, I rate the way they go about it and we’ll have to be up for the fight.

“They’re in the same scenario as us coming off three losses, and they’ll be looking to get a win on the board, so we expect a tough challenge going over to Deakin on Saturday.”

Shepparton Swans coach: Jedd Wright

“It’s a bit of a free swing for us, obviously no-one has got too close to them for a while now.

“We’ve got a few plans that we’ll take into the game and see how it all unfolds.

“While we really want to try and win the game, sometimes you can learn just as much by just playing a good quality opposition and that’s certainly what we’re going to be up against this week.

“Our speed and our ability to really transition the ball from back line to forward line are our strengths, but in saying that we need to take a little bit more care – turnovers are really hurting us at the moment.

“Hopefully we can have a little more composure with the ball and give our forwards a little bit more of a chance inside 50.”

Seymour coach: Ben Davey

“It’s something that if you could bottle, every coach would love it and that’s the effort that players put in … and the effort from the boys at the weekend was amazing.

“You’ll hear a lot of coaches say, that’s the stuff you want – that makes a difference.

“Everyone knows they’re well disciplined and well coached, and they usually have a plan set out for each club and they stick to it really well.

“They’ve actually had the wood over us for a couple of years, so we need to right the ship a bit. We’re looking to get one back at them.

“We need to try and get back on top of them which won’t be easy.”

Moorooopna coach: John Lamont

“(On Seymour) By all reports, they had a good pre-season and they’re up and about; they’ve got good momentum with a good win against Euroa.

“They bat pretty deep through their midfield and have multiple avenues to goal, so it’s going to be really tough.

“I want to see (our players) absorb the pressure, absorb the expectation of playing in a big game ― and it is a big game.

“It’s a great challenge for us and I’m looking forward to that aspect. I’m expecting the tempo and the intensity of the game will be up from previous weeks, and that’s the number one thing I’m looking for, that we can absorb all that.”

Echuca co-coach: Sam Reid

“Our starts are a work in progress; against Ky a few weeks ago they kicked two goals in the first two minutes and last weekend Rochy kicked two before we even hit the scoreboard.

“We’ve given some opportunities to a few young guys which has been good.

“Jackson Stewart got some midfield time last round which was nice for him and he’ll continually improve.

“We get Jack McHale back this week, he’s served his suspension.

“We’re shaping up all right, we obviously lost a few forwards this season, but we’ve had a spread of 11 or 12 different goal-kickers – last year we probably had five with Ruory (Kirkby) kicking the most.

“We look really dangerous going forward at the moment which is good.”