ARARAT Rats will host arch rivals Stawell Warriors at Alexandra Park in round 11 of the Wimmera Football League on Saturday.
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The last time the two sides met in round four the Warriors belted the Rats by 70 points.
Both sides have improved since that match-up, with the Rats back in good form after several top players returned from injury.
The Warriors are sitting third on the table and have been showing considerable form, defeating second-placed Horsham Demons by 87 points in round 10. Ararat also triumphed last weekend, recording its second win of the 2016 season against Nhill Tigers.
Rats coach David Hosking believes his side is on the up.
“(Stawell’s) form is a bit better than ours but we feel quite strong at the moment,” he said.
The Rats have welcomed back some important personnel in the past three weeks.
“Training was very positive on Tuesday,” Hosking said.
“We know this will be a very tough game but we expect to be competitive.”
Hosking said his side was wary of the Warriors’ fast ball movement.
“We expect a better game than our first encounter,” he said.
“We rate this opposition very highly.”
The Rats were asked to not train on half the oval on Tuesday due to heavy rain and a drainage problem.
Warriors coach Brad Thomas said he was happy his side had hit form.
“This is going to be a huge match for us,” he said.
“We looked good in our game last week but so did Ararat.
“We will have to play our best football to overcome them.”
Thomas said the Rats were tough side, particularly if the team started well.
“They don’t stop when they start off fast,” he said.
“We cannot let them get in front in the first quarter.”
He said he wanted his players to stay composed and not get in over their heads.
“Ararat beat Nhill, Nhill beat Saints and Saints beat Minyip. It shows if you have a quiet day and another side is having a good day, anything can happen this year,” he said.
The Warriors will go into the match unchanged, keeping the same line-up the team had in its dominant win against Demons.
“We will have to work on our structure with the big ground,” Thomas said.
“I’m expecting a great match. It is a big game for Ararat as well and it’s great that it’s either team’s to win this year.”