Dons in Pies’ sights

The Busselton Magpies are looking to bounce back from a narrow loss to Harvey Brunswick Leschenault on Saturday when they face reigning Premiers Donnybrook at VC Mitchell Park.

The Magpies put in a spirited performance last week to be eventually overrun by the Lions with forward Taine Williams taking advantage of his team’s better ball use to kick six goals for HBL.

Busselton coach Steve Lester said his side needed to use the ball better when entering the forward 50.

“We set a really strong benchmark for our defensive pressure and we need to make sure we can maintain our intensity,” he said.

“Going into this week we will apply a team defence as Donnybrook have a number of guys that we could tag but we just need to keep them under pressure.

Lester said after a tough regular season game the Magpies were fit with no injuries but would need to be at their best to defeat the Dons who have eight new players to add to their premiership side.

“It’s going to be a challenge and we need every one of us to get over the line and kickstart our season,” he said.

Donnybrook are coming off a shock first-round loss to Carey Park who beat the Dons in contested ball and clearances last week after a midfield restructure at half-time.

Donnybrook coach Julian Burgess said his team would regain some players for round two and had addressed the contested-ball issues at training on Wednesday night.

“We had a good session where the contest and midfield set-ups were our main focus and the boys responded well,” he said.

“We started well last week but we have some new players and they may take some time to fully understand our expectations.”

Burgess said Busselton had a fast side and his counterpart used a heavy rotation system to keep his young players fresh, so the Dons had to be ready for a fired-up Magpies side.

“We are the hunted now, we are wary of every side and we won’t take any game lightly,” he said.