THE Hamilton Kangaroos will travel to Bushfield Oval to take on North Warrnambool Eagles in Hampden Football Netball League round 14 action today.

The Roos are coming off a win last weekend, but with the Eagles one of the premiership fancies, it will be a tougher task this afternoon.

Kangaroos coach, Brad Thomas said it would be another good test for the group.

“I have felt that we have been competitive against some of the better teams, but the scoreboard hasn’t shown it,” he said.

“When we played South, we had two good quarters.

“We have North and Terang-Mortlake both coming up, and those two and South are the three in the race for the premiership I think.

“There are 20 quarters left for the season, so we just want to keep growing the brand of football and stick to the process.”

Hamilton will go into the round 14 clash unchanged, the first time the team hasn’t had any changes from the previous week this season, as the team looks to finish off its 2024 campaign strong.

“We have had a lot of injuries this year, so nice to get a little bit of structure,” Thomas said.

“I feel like our connection is starting to improve.

“We are asking a bit more, knowing the process and play it, and it shouldn’t come down to quarter time and half time to reset, so the leaders need to drive that.”

The midfield battle will be critical, with weather likely to be wet, both teams will be searching for territory.

“Their midfield is strong with Bermingham and Grundy, but our midfield stacks up looking at the numbers and having Gilly back does help that,” Thomas said.

“With Vardy in the ruck, no doubt he has the runs on the board, so he will give their midfielders first use out of stoppages

“They are probably the highest with getting inside 50s, they go forward heavily from stoppages and they use width a lot.

“We definitely want to keep it pretty tight on the inside.”

Netball

THE Hamilton Kangaroos Open team will face a much tougher opposition, as the side takes to the court off a win first time in 2024 today.

The Roos defeated Portland last weekend but face North Warrnambool Eagles at Bushfield Oval this afternoon.

The Eagles sit third with nine wins and will be eyeing off a strong win at home, while the visitors will be more focused on the processes, with a young side continuing to develop going into the last month of the season.

Hamilton had one of its strongest squads of the season against Portland, missing just Kellie Sommerville and Mimi Chun, and with Ella Sevior leading the time well as skipper, the team has shown positives at different times.

A strong four-quarter effort is required if the blue and white are to remain competitive against the Eagles in the round 14 match-up.