THE Hamilton Kangaroos will face Port Fairy at Gardens Oval in a rare Sunday Hampden Football Netball League home game tomorrow.

The Roos will go into the clash confident of a win, with both teams collecting two wins so far this season.

Hamilton will also be going into the round seven clash without vice-captain, Rory Gill.

“Rory has broken his hand, we will lose him for a fair few games,” Roos coach, Brad Thomas said.

“Deacon White is back in, had his first run last week, Hamish Waldron hasn’t played midfield yet, and Vincent Huf, so we have a few there and there are some opportunities.

“As much as they have some size, we have done a bit of homework.

“I feel like we have some big boys as well, our size are good sized midfielders.”

Coming off a 52-point loss to Terang-Mortlake last week, Thomas said the team’s evolution continued to focus on the systems and structures, and not the wins and losses.

“We are just eager to keep improving and working on our systems,” he said.

“We will treat it like another game down there, the different size ground, no doubt Hawkesdale is a big ground, Port Fairy is a fair bit smaller.

“We are looking forward to see how we go on a smaller oval and seeing how we go.

“It would be nice for a win for the supporters, but we are just hoping to be competitive and if we can do that, we will be happy.”

The midfield will be the focus, with the smaller ground meaning the territory battle will go a long way to deciding the winner.

“Every game is about the contested ball, Port Fairy is very much a contested ball team,” he said.

“I think they play length a little bit more, compared to width, they play that ground really well, so it will definitely be a good test for us.

“We were excited to keep Terang-Mortlake down to 80 odd points, so defensively we are going alright.”

Netball

HAMILTON KANGAROOS has the chance to lift itself from the bottom of the HFNL Open netball ladder when it hosts Port Fairy at Gardens Oval tomorrow afternoon.

These teams find themselves at the wrong end of the pecking order and both will be desperate to win today to claim the four points on offer.

A win by the Seagulls would all but hand the dreaded wooden spoon to the Kangaroos, who are building a squad for the near future with its best youngsters.

Neither team is yet to record a victory, although Port Fairy did draw against Portland back in round one and has been near the mark in most games, while the blue and white has shown inconsistent form, hampered by injuries and unavailability at times.

Mimi Chun has been listed among the best players in all games except one this season and is again vital to the hopes of her team.

She gains great guidance from the likes of Clare Crawford and Kellie Sommerville, who are passing along their combined knowledge of the game and the opposition to their young teammates.

Crawford (GA) is vital in the goal circle, as she puts up multiple goals in support of Saskia Gould (GS), who is learning from one of the best goalers to play for the Roos.

The Kangaroos must pounce on any turnover ball that the backs cause and have the ball swiftly up court, where the shooters can capitalise, as the Seagulls are continually turned around and playing catch up ball.

Hamilton Kangaroos know both Port Fairy and Portland are the teams they have the ability within their ranks to defeat, and with two games against the Seagulls and one against the Tigers, the Roos’ goal must be to win these three games while pushing for other upset victories along the way.