Sport
2 May, 2026
Burras target four-quarter effort against Nhill
Minyip Murtoa will be aiming for its first win this season when they battle it out with Nhill on Saturday in the Wimmera Football Netball League.
While the Burras have dropped their first couple of matches against the Demons (12.12 84 to 12.14 86) and the Thunder (7.11 53 to 12.14 86), their coach, Luke Fisher, said they are feeling good heading into the hit-out this week.
Nhill are coming off a couple of weeks off, with a bye and then the Anzac Round break, but in the first match of the season, defeated the Thunder 6.15 51 to 6.7 43.
Fisher said the Burras showed many positive signs in their game last week against the Thunder.
"We just couldn't do it for four quarters," he admitted.
"We went into halftime with a lead, and we played the half the way we would've liked.
"The week off (split round) has given us a chance to refine a couple of things and rest a couple of sore bodies."
Fisher said he is under no illusion that the competition this week has a good lineup, having played as a group for a couple of years now.
"They are very good defensively; however, they attack really hard when they get their chance," Fisher observed.
"So we are focusing on not giving the ball back to them and hope to get some control in the game at stages where we can then capitalise on the score."
Fisher added that Nhill has a good balance of smalls and talls, which will prove a challenge in terms of match-ups.
One of those matchups that will be critical to get right is that of Jake McQueen, and Fisher plans to keep a close eye on him.
"He seems to be involved in a lot of their scoring thrusts, so it will be important that we have tabs on him," the coach said.
"Mitch Dahlenberg is also one of their better players, who we will have to keep quiet.
"But they are pretty even side across the field and have lots of contributors."
As far as his own side goes, Fisher said the entire team will have to contribute and play their role this week.
"Last week we were able to do that for a fair bit of the game but only fell away in a couple of areas, which allowed the opposition in and swung the momentum of the game," Fisher said.
"Our midfield will have to be really strong for the whole day against theirs."