Tigers set for battle
Boulder coach Bradley George is unfazed by the challenge his squad faces against Goldfields Football League powerhouse Railways tomorrow to complete the qualifying series.
Railways already have a lock on the minor premiership with 13 wins against just two losses.
It is a record far superior to the Tigers' 5-10 mark, but George views the assignment as the perfect lead-up to the first semifinal on Sunday, August 31.
"Any opportunity to play the top team right before the finals is a good thing because you want to go in with some degree of confidence," he said.
"We can't go into this weekend half-hearted and thinking about self-preservation and, instead, the focus has to be on attacking the ball and to keep applying the things we have learnt all year.
"If we win, you can only imagine what that would do for our mindset, but the bottom line is, we have to be at our best because we don't have the luxury of dropping players."
Railways easily prevailed against Boulder in rounds 5 and 10.
But Boulder's dramatic 2014 improvement was underlined by an upset three-point win over last year's grand finalists in round 15.
George said a bye last weekend provided an opportunity to freshen up some players. "I can guarantee we'll be seeing a different Railways team this time," he said.
"But it's nice for us to have some players coming back in - Mick Alexander and Karl James have missed some footy with hamstrings and with Kane Ryan and Ricky Dawes, are among at least four who can come in."
Railways coach Graeme Borchet urged his players to contest this weekend's clash on its merits without looking ahead to next weekend's second semifinal.
"Last weekend (against Mines Rovers) it struck me that some of the boys were probably just trying to get themselves through," he said. "Overall, it (Railways' performance) was probably below par and we need to go out with a mindset to set ourselves for the second semifinal."
Ahead of Railways' final session last night, young forward Ryan Borchet (groin strain) was the only significant injury worry.
