LEOPOLD coach Luke Kelly has praised his experienced players and the depth of the Lions’ squad after a tricky run with injuries.<\/p>\n
The GFNL senior footy reigning premier has bounced back with two big wins after losing its season opener to St Joseph’s.<\/p>\n
“Joeys gave us a good indicator of the level of intensity and pressure and requirements to play at the top level, they were very much ready to go,” Kelly said.<\/p>\n
Leopold take on the formidable Newtown and Chilwell at 2.10pm tomorrow (Saturday, May 10) in Round 4 at Elderslie Reserve.<\/p>\n
The fourth versus sixth battle shapes as the match of the round, and Kelly anticipates it will be a clash that helps his group assess where they are at.<\/p>\n
“We’re very aware Newtown are very good on turnover, they look to play fast, exciting football which I know (coach) Stevie (Johnson) loves; so we’ve got to be wary of how we defend,” he said.<\/p>\n
The Lions lost Logan Wagener (concussion) and Tom Feely (medial collateral ligament) against Joeys before defender Luke Justin injured his adductor against Colac a fortnight ago.<\/p>\n
Kelly said Wagener would likely return in round 5 while Feely was about one month away.<\/p>\n
Justin is set for an eight- to 12-week stint on the sidelines while key forward Henry Hawker is still four to six weeks off with a shoulder injury.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got a good depth to our squad, we’ve debuted four guys in our first three rounds coming off back-to-back flags,” Kelly said.<\/p>\n
The coach lauded experienced heads such as defender Trent Thompson, skipper Marcus Thompson, Sam Scott, key forward Connor Giddings and half-back Mitch Burgess.<\/p>\n
“Tate Porter has definitely stepped up inside (the midfield), he’s been outstanding the last couple of weeks,” he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LEOPOLD coach Luke Kelly has praised his experienced players and the depth of the Lions’ squad after a tricky run with injuries. The GFNL senior footy reigning premier has bounced back with two big wins after losing its season opener to St Joseph’s. “Joeys gave us a good indicator of the level of intensity and […]<\/p>\n