New Leeton-Whitton coach Sam Darley is hopeful his side will be able to make a strong start to the season when they take on Wagga Tigers at the Showgrounds on Saturday afternoon.
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The side has been bolstered by the return of Bryce O'Garey, who has decided to come out of his retirement four months after hanging up the boots.
Darley said the inclusion of O'Garey back into the mix will have a great impact on the side and may give the opposition a bit of a headache to deal with in the forward line.
"I think with Bryce, having me there instead of Daniel (Muir), it allows him to spend more time forward," he said.
"He knows he doesn't have to spend 90 percent of the game in the midfield. He can come in when I need to drop out, and it gives us a bit of a mismatch down forward.
"If you put a small on him, he is going to be too strong and too competitive, and if you put a big, he will be too quick, so I'm hoping it is going to cause a couple of headaches with Tyron Rainbird, who has arrived as well."
Darley has been impressed with the number turning up to training and has full confidence in his side heading into the grand final rematch against Wagga this weekend.
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"I missed last night trying to get over the flu, but I was talking to Matty Rainbird, my assistant, this morning, and numbers were huge on the track last night," he said.
" The boys probably think Wagga didn't lose as many as we have with COVID affecting what competitions went ahead, and we had a lot of players come back, but as I said to them, it's round one, and anything can happen.
"I'm new and have no fear going into a game against Wagga as I said, we will give them a fair shake up and hopefully get the win."
Despite battling a bit of a cold early in the week, Darley said nothing would stop him from taking the field this weekend, having not played AFL at all last year due to the pandemic.
"I feel 1000 times better than yesterday (Tuesday), and I have received pretty well today, and I have got until Saturday to be right," he said.
The clash between last year's grand finalists will get underway at 2.10pm.
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