Tigers, Suns to start rivalry

THE first match between the Torquay Tigers and the Surf Coast Suns has been touted as the start of a new friendly rivalry, but Torquay Tigers senior football coach Dom Gleeson is skeptical of the word “friendly.”

Gleeson and his men are gearing up for a huge test against a side “full of unknowns” at Banyul Warri Fields tomorrow.

“It’s funny because people say friendly, but I don’t think it will be and I don’t think many people would want it to be,” Gleeson said.

“I admire the way they are building a club from the ground up and acknowledge they’ve put a great list together.

 

“I’m really looking forward to this opportunity of having the two clubs in Torquay and forming a rivalry.”

Gleeson – who, like all coaches across the Bellarine Football Netball League, has not seen the Suns in action – does not subscribe to the notion of the Suns being light opposition.

“I don’t buy into the new club and ‘get some years behind them’ mentality,” he said.

“I think they’ll hit the ground running. They’ve got a quality group of players.

“My group better not be sleeping on them. We better come with our game face on.”

He said Torquay had enjoyed a fine pre-season, with more than 70 players in the running for selection this weekend.

“We’ve been blessed by the buy-in from our side, the numbers have been there, and our teams are motivated to drive forward and get back up the top of the ladder,” he said.

“We’ve had some great practice matches against some quality oppositions and we are feeling ready to go.”

 

The Surf Coast Suns began training in October in anticipation for their debut senior season.

A group of more than 60 players have grown connections over summer and are fit and firing ahead of Easter Saturday.

“It’s such an exciting time right now. Recruitment, pre-season and practice matches are all behind us and now round 1 is here,” Suns senior football coach Trent Rogers said.

“The lads are going in confident and there’s a great feeling of optimism. We will focus on us and what we’ve got going and we will back that in.”

Rogers said the club was fully buying into the rivalry angle.

“From the outside looking in, people are building it up and we hope it’s a great healthy rivalry moving forward,” he said.

“However, we are going into every game as a rivalry too. We will be going out there every week doing our best to get the win.”

A Grade netball starts at 1.45pm, with senior football at 2.10pm.