Shepparton Sports Stadium will be brimming with life come Saturday night, as the hometown Gators welcome Collingwood for their division one men’s Big V home opener.
Shepparton comes into this round two clash after a nail-biting 62-61 loss against Warrandyte to begin the season and will be eager to bounce back in front of a raucous home crowd.
But it won’t be easy against a classy Collingwood line-up, which after a 20-point loss at the hands of Bulleen last week will be as determined to get onto the winners’ list for the first time in season 2022.
Gators coach Josh Waight said his team was excited about the challenge and to be back in front of home fans.
“We cannot wait to get back out there on our home court and hopefully put in a good performance against a very tough Collingwood team,” Waight said.
“For us we are just really focused on identifying our problems from last week and fixing them — we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well all game, especially under pressure, so we will be hoping to turn that around this week.
“They (Collingwood) have some really good players that we will have to be wary of all night, Matt Hendricks has always been dangerous with his ability to score and Dylan Webb is also a very good player they have at their disposal.
“For us it is just about controlling what we can control, shooting the ball better and just getting our game going, if we do that I’m confident we can put in a strong performance and give ourselves a chance to win.”
Fans will be greeted by a new-look Gators squad this season, with a host of recruits joining an exciting core of young players.
Waight outlined what fans could expect from the new faces.
“We have Garrett (Jefferson) who has come across from the US and will be a really exciting presence for us on the defensive end with his ability to protect the rim,” he said.
“Dylan Wilkie has come over from New Zealand and is a major offensive threat for us, he is an excellent shooter of the ball and will without doubt provide fireworks to our games throughout the season.
“While the big ‘Droid’ (Matt Adronicus) will be a great presence for us down low with his ability to defend the paint and score in the interior a major bonus for our team.”
For people looking for something to do this weekend, Waight said to come on down for a night of exciting hoops.
“If you have nothing to do on Saturday night come down and make sure to make some noise,” he said.
“It will be a great night where you will hopefully see some exciting basketball.”