Football
21 June, 2025
Defending champs travel to Natimuk
Harrow Balmoral are hoping to continue building momentum as they face off against Natimuk in men’s senior football this Saturday in round 10 of the Horsham District Football Netball League.
After a 69-35 loss to Kalkee ended their three-game winning streak, Natimuk will be itching to challenge the reigning premiers.
Currently in seventh on the league ladder with three wins and five losses, an upset win over Harrow will keep Natimuk in the hunt for a finals spot.
Having lost their first game of the season to Noradjuha Quantong prior to the long weekend break, Harrow Balmoral returned to action last week with a commanding 113-33 win over Rupanyup.
Jai Thompson, coach of Harrow Balmoral, is not taking Natimuk lightly as they prepare for Saturday’s game.
“I’ll be doing some research on Natimuk and see where their main areas are, but the majority of the time it’s the midfield battles that win you games in this league,” Thompson said.
“You always put your best players around the football.
“They’re (Natimuk) going to be another good challenge for the squad.
“A young team like that can go through waves, where they could play a really good game.”
As well as getting wins on the board, Thompson is taking a long view on the side’s progression.
“We'll focus on some areas that we're really trying to improve on,” Thompson said.
“We're expanding our game plan a little bit: just a few different things that we're going to try to make us better when we happen to be all back out there.”
While several key players are close to returning for the Kangaroos, the side are taking a cautious approach.
“We're not in any rush to get them back,” Thompson said.
“We'd hate for them to come back and make anything worse at this point of the year.
“As long as we can keep trying to get a few wins on the board we're not too stressed about it, but we're still two or three weeks from getting our best team back.”