Despite a finals appearance being out of reach, the Cootamundra Blues will look to continue their strong form to close out the season as they travel to ADFA Oval in Canberra this Saturday to face the ADFA Rams.
For the Blues, winning will be no easy task, with ADFA cruising to a 163 point victory the last time the sides met.
The Rams have been nothing short of dominant this season, regularly blowing sides off the park with their elite fitness and ball use.
The army cadets have been in white hot form over their last six games, with a mammoth average winning mar-gin of 131 points.
Cootamundra will head into the game well rested, with a combination of washouts and byes limiting the side to just 1 game in the last 3 weeks.
While not ideal, Blues coach Joe Scott will be hoping the extra time off will have helped cure a raft of injuries affecting a number of key players.
Further hampering the sides preparation is the fact that the Blues have been unable to train on Clarke Oval for the past 2 weeks due to wet weather and ground closures.
Headlining the list of players Scott will be keen to get back into the lineup is Ben Rose.
Coming on board earlier this season, the Canberra based Rose has been a revelation across the back flank for the Blues, immediately finding his feet in his new side and providing the Blues with an elite ball user down back.
Coming off a string of high class performances, Rose suffered a hamstring injury during the Blues previous game against Woden 3 weeks ago and will be racing the clock to be fit for this week-end.
Key defender Jarrod Keelan should also be better for the rest, having battled numerous injuries over the course of the season, preventing him from gain-ing any real momentum.
Having been unavailable for the past month and coming up against a potent forward line, the Blues selection committee will be hoping Keelan will be ready to return to the defensive unit.
Despite the heavy defeat the last time the sides met, the Blues should go into the game confident of a much improved showing. With a number of the Blues young guns now more acclimatised to senior football, and the side continuing to develop their chemistry over the course of the season, there’s no reason for the Blues not to put up more of a challenge this time around.
The continual inclement weather should finally clear up for Saturday’s game meaning there is little chance the ACT grounds will be closed for a third time this season.
First bounce is scheduled for 2pm.