NAB League | Bushrangers prepare for clash against ‘impressive’ Stingrays unit

Fresh off a narrow victory over Greater Western Victoria Rebels, Murray faces an undefeated Stingrays contingent which has dominated its opponents to date.

Dandenong’s past three wins have come in clinical fashion, highlighted by its 135-point blitz of Gippsland Power in round two.

Assistant coach Mario de Santa-ana said his charges expected a stern test, but would take the fight to the Stingrays.

“They (Dandenong) are an extremely impressive unit and have such great talent across all lines, we will do a bit of homework on them this week and come up with some sort of plan to combat them and hopefully our girls can be switched on,’ de Santa-ana said earlier this week.

“We get a couple back that were unavailable as well, so that will help us, so we are keen to put our best side forward this week in a game that will probably tell us where we are at.

“Our girls are playing good, entertaining footy, it was a bit of a scrambly game (last) weekend, but I think the effort is high, which is all we asked of the girls, high effort, be competitive and showcase your strengths and that’s what they are doing.”

Dandenong brushed aside Bendigo Pioneers by 32 points last weekend, a side the Bushrangers managed to defeat by 39 points in round one.

However, it was the Bushrangers’ tense eight-point victory over the Rebels last Sunday that de Santa-ana said his side would take a lot of belief from.

“It (last week’s win) does give us confidence and that’s the message we have been giving the girls, we have had three games and come away with two wins and a very close loss, but we have played well in all of the games.,” he said.

“The girls now know that they can compete at this level and, hopefully, we can take that into this week’s game against Dandenong.”