Haisman Shield | Wet weather set to play its hand as teams gear up for round two action

For top contenders such as Kyabram and Nagambie, this weekend presents as a wonderful opportunity to bounce back following tough opening round losses.

While the likes of Mooroopna, Central Park-St Brendan’s, Numurkah, Northerners and Katandra will be looking to keep the good times rolling after strong starts to their campaigns.

Kyabram v Numurkah ― Kyabram Recreation Reserve, 12.30pm

Reigning grand finalist Kyabram returns to its home deck with a point to prove.

Coming up against a fired-up Central Park-St Brendan’s at Deakin Reserve last week, the Redbacks were competitive in their efforts, but were ultimately outshone by the talent of the Tigers.

But in what is set to be a tightly-contested season, honourable losses simply won’t cut it for a team with Kyabram’s premiership aspirations, making this weekend’s clash with fellow contender Numurkah vital.

“It will be good to get back on the home deck and hopefully we can put in a good performance after last week’s loss and get on the board,” Redbacks coach Jackson McLay said.

“We actually took a lot out of last week, we probably weren’t quite at our best and were a little bit short with runs, but we felt we put some pressure on through the middle overs with the ball and showed some great fight.

“We felt like we weren’t too far off and hopefully we can tidy up a few things this weekend.”

Quelling the Blues will be a tough assignment for McLay and his troops, however, as they come into this clash brimming with confidence after a seven-wicket demolition of Shepparton United.

McLay outlined where he thought the game would be won and lost.

“Obviously Numurkah are going to be one of the top sides, so we’ll need to be at the top of our game,” he said.

“For us it is about building partnerships and making sure our top six bat deep into the innings, if we can do that it will ensure we put a big score on the board for our talented bowling attack to defend.”

The Redbacks will be without Kyle Fitzgerald, but welcome back Charlie McLay.

Nagambie v Katandra ― Nagambie Recreation Reserve, 12.30pm

After making a major recruiting splash during the off-season Katandra wheeled out its new cast of stars with great success in last week’s season opener as it accounted for Old Students by a whopping 64 runs.

But while that result served as a perfect start to the new campaign, the Eagles will face their first genuine test this weekend with a trip to Nagambie to take on a Lakers side reeling from an unexpected loss to Northerners.

An opportunity to get a gauge of where his team is at, Katandra skipper Ben Clurey said he was confident it could continue its winning ways.

“The vibe among the group is very good, it was great to kick the season off with a win and a pretty solid win as well, so hopefully we can continue that momentum and put in another solid showing,” Clurey said.

“Mixing in a couple of new English recruits with some of our existing faces, the balance of our squad was really good last week and we’re confident we can continue to play good cricket.”

Picking up where he left off last season, gun all-rounder Jedd Wright was the star of the show against Old Studnets as he compiled an elegant 61 to see Katandra to an imposing first innings total of 214.

Now set to come up against a star-studded Nagambie, headlined by an in-form Mark Nolan who took 5-20 last week, Clurey said putting a big score on the board would be key to his team’s chances of getting to 2-0.

“The mindset is very similar to what it was last week, we just want to put together a few good partnerships and post a strong total,” he said.

“If we can do that our bowling unit is usually reliable in restricting sides, so the focus for us will be putting together a big score against a very good Nagambie attack.

“After getting off to slow starts the last couple of seasons it is super important we continue this momentum and bank as many wins as we can pre-Christmas.”

Katandra has confirmed one change with Andy Nicholls set to make way for Ray Ireland.

Old Students v Central Park-St Brendan’s ― Kialla Park Reserve, 12.30pm

Traditional Haisman Shield rivals Old Students and Central Park-St Brendan’s will renew hostilities on Saturday afternoon in what is set up to be an intriguing clash at Kialla Park.

The Tigers come into the contest an overwhelming favourite after an excellent round one showing against Kyabram — but won’t be taking this young Old Students side lightly, which will be desperate to bounce back after a poor showing against Katandra.

“You always get yourself up a little bit more for these matches, they are our old arch rival and even though the rivalry has died down a bit over recent times, these are the games you love to play,” Central Park mentor Tyler Larkin said.

“We’ll just be going in and putting our best foot forward, we got a great all-round team performance last week, so the aim will be to replicate that again.”

Larkin himself was the catalyst for Central Park’s victory, putting together a classy 63 to steer his team’s successful pursuit of 152.

But with so much talent in their line-up, it’s not just the Tigers’ coach Old Students will have to stop, with the likes of Brendan Scott, Rhiley Lau, Jarrod Wakeling and Ramadan Yze sure to have an influence on the contest.

Karramomus v Shepparton United ― Vibert Reserve, 12.30pm

Filling out the bottom two ranks on the Haisman Shield ladder last season, Karramamous and Shepparton United will butt heads in what is set to be an enthralling battle at Vibert Reserve.

It was a tough return to the field for United last week, as it simply could not curtail a classy Numurkah in what ended up being a seven-wicket rout.

But while the scorecard didn’t make for pretty reading, skipper Chaminda Vidanapathirana said his squad took a lot from the experience as it hoped to take advantage of this opportunity to write itself onto the winners’ list.

“For starters we are going to have to do a lot better with the bat, that is the main thing we need to focus on leading into this game,” Vidanapathirana said.

“I thought last week we were good in patches, we did a lot of things right and I think if we can do those things for longer periods of time we can come away with a positive result.

“There is certainly a lot of talent in our team and this weekend is a great opportunity for us to show what we can do.”

For Karramamous this marks the beginning of its campaign after having the bye last week.

Euroa v Northerners ― Euroa Friendly Society Recreation Reserve, 12.30pm

Northerners produced the biggest upset of the opening round of Haisman Shield action last weekend as they travelled to Nagambie and bested a highly-fancied Lakers.

But while the win served as a feather in the cap of this young Jets side, the competition moves on quickly, with the a new challenge presenting itself this weekend with a trip to Euroa.

“I just hope mentally the boys are switched on after that great win last week,” Northerners coach Steve Allen said.

“For us it is all about consistency this season, so this is a great test to see whether the boys can back up one strong performance with another.

“We know Euroa is a side we cannot take lightly, they are a team filled with talent, so we can’t approach this game with any complacency if we want to secure the win.”

After an honourable loss to reigning premier Mooroopna last weekend, Euroa will be hoping to see another strong performance translate into its first points of the season.

Tatura v Mooroopna ― Howley Oval, 12.30pm

A competitive performance is the objective for Tatura as it hosts reigning premier Mooroopna.

Their second monumental challenge in as many weeks — the Bulldogs will be after a more sustained effort after they were soundly humbled by a rampant Waaia last weekend.

Mooroopna on the other hand will be looking to keep the good times rolling after it triumphed over a brave Euroa by five wickets in it season opener.

“This sets up to be a pretty tough game for us against a team that will be right up there again this year,” Tatura coach Daniel Coombs said.

“We didn’t play too badly last week, we just shot ourselves in the foot a bit in the field dropping five pretty easy catches which let them get away.

“For us this game is a great opportunity to test ourselves against the best and show we can compete.”