OVO AWL | Torpedoes ready to launch at home against Tigers

UWA Torpoedoes will play their first games at home for the 2019 season when UTS Balmain Tigers arrive for their round six battle as part of the OVO Play match of the week.

Young gun Jamie Oberman says the UWA Torpedoes women are bracing for a strong Tigers outfit to arrive on Saturday.

“They’ve got some big names like Rowie Webster, Pascalle Casey and one of WA’s own Genevieve Longman in goals.

“We’re expecting them to come out hard and we want to be able to hold them at a level that we can keep compete at, as well as hold their bigger players to minimal goals,” she said.

Within the first five rounds, Torpedoes have found themselves on the road to Sydney and Adelaide and now return to HBF stadium for their first home fixture.

“We’re so excited, we can’t wait and we know our Torps crowd is ready to cheer us on loudly,” she said.

Having played in all nine of Torpedoes 2019 matches and coming off a tough Derby loss in round five, Oberman says the group remain focused.

“Our main goal is to play every single game as hard as we can, but overall we would love to make finals.

“We think we’re giving every team a good run for their money and feel like we have been able to surprise a few teams.

“We’re still very motivated and ready to give Balmain a run for their money,” said Oberman.

In a week where some of the players had physical testing at Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS), Oberman said their speed as a group shone through.

“We’re not always the strongest, but we have girls who count counter attack as quick as anything, we can swim days on end. We think that’s what we can use the most because we do lack in experience.

“Pippa Pedley was one of our fastest and blitzed our tests at WAIS,” she said.

While in the men’s encounter, UTS Balmain Tigers’ captain James Clark says their first win of the season last Sunday is the beginning of some much needed momentum as they travel to Perth.

“I think we can put things together pretty well across different quarters and we can match it with the top teams, but our lack of consistency pull us down," he said.

Tigers have had a strong focus on themselves early in the week for training.

“It’s about how we can perform better and then closer to the game day we’ll pinpoint key payers and match up well.

“One of our key focuses is defence and if we can do that well we will put ourselves in a good position in any game. Another key focus is converting our extra man opportunities,” said Clark.

The Tigers have welcomed an array of new faces to their group as part of the season including Queenslander Hugh Anstey, Russian Junior Donat Galeev, Italian Marco Spampinato and American Eric Carnohan.

“They are all experienced in their own right, all of the overseas guys are seasoned campaigners in their respected country.

“Hugh has come down from Queensland and he has made Australian Junior teams and brings a wealth of experience and ability," said Clark.

Looking ahead to Saturday's matchup against Torpedoes Clark knows it will be a well balanced contest.

“They’ll be fired up after their derby loss from last week and they also have some new faces themselves.

“We know it will be evenly matched and it’s always tough going to their home pool, but we are looking forward to the challenge,” he said.

Being a seasoned veteran for his side Clark will keep his message to the group simple as they line up for their third match in as many days.

“Hopefully we have a couple of wins under the belt and have that momentum.

“At that point in time it is about maintaining the fundamentals of the game and concentrating as best as we can on performing well and playing our individual roles,” he said.

As part of their road trip in round six UTS Balmain Tigers will square off with Fremantle in two matches.

While Hunter find themselves on the road to Sydney for their double header against UNSW Wests.

Drummoyne Devils and Sydney Uni Lions will clash in a derby match which will surely see sparks fly.

Then FYFE Adelaide Jets will go head to head with ACU Cronulla Sharks, with the Adealide women's team searching for their first win of the season.

HOW TO WATCH UWA TORPEDOES VS UTS BALMAIN TIGERS

UWA TORPEDOES VS UTS BALMAIN TIGERS

WHEN: Saturday 9 March
WHERE: HBF Stadium Aquatic Facility, Perth
WOMEN'S MATCH: 2:00pm (AWST)
MEN'S MATCH: 4:00pm (AWST) 

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HANDY LINKS

View all round six women’s fixtures – click here.

View all round six men’s fixtures – click here.

View all upcoming OVOPlay match live stream details – click here.

Watch full match replays from previous rounds here.

Get to know the OVO AWL teams here.