The Tasmania Devils will face an unusual 10am start on Saturday when they host North Melbourne at North Hobart Oval in their round 11 VFL clash.
Devils defender Zach Adams said he is ready to embrace the early start despite it not being his usual routine.
“I normally like a bit of a sleep in but we’ll have to adjust to that, just go for a coffee in the morning and get to the ground at about eight o’clock when I would normally still be in bed,” Adams said.
Adams made a strong return from a knee injury in Sunday’s four-point loss to Port Melbourne, kicking two goals in the tight contest.
“It was just good to get back out there and amongst it and make it through the game unscathed,” he said.
“I was pretty happy with that and to hit the scoreboard, Jezz gives me a bit of a licence to push hard forward and take a few marks and it paid off on the weekend.”
Saturday’s clash will be the second time this season the Devils have come up against a side with AFL-listed players.
A VFL home-and-away record crowd of more than 14,000 at Ninja Stadium watched Carlton beat the Devils by 25 points in round five.
Adams isn’t fazed by the challenge.
“They are obviously very good players,” he said.
“We’ve just got to try our best to lock them down, but at the same time I don’t think it worries us as much as people think.”
The match is part of a double-header, with the Devils’ VFLW side also taking on the Kangaroos in the later slot at 1:35pm.
The women’s team is still chasing its first win of the season after losses to Casey and Port Melbourne, despite being competitive throughout.
The club has confirmed defender Jessie Williams will miss the remainder of VFLW season after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament during Sunday’s clash.
Devils forward Grace White kicked two goals against Port Melbourne and sees plenty of promise in the group.
“We had really good patches and this weekend we are hoping to put them all together and play that throughout the whole game,” she said.
“We have shown some really promising signs and are definitely connecting a bit more coming into the forward line and able to get a bit more score on the board.”
White, one of the few Devils players with VFLW experience after two games for the Kangaroos in 2023, believes a breakthrough is close.
“I think it will be pretty special and I think that’s what we are all aiming for at this point in time and I think it will come very soon,” she said.
Both matches will be broadcast live in Tasmania on Channel Seven, with interstate viewers able to watch on 7Plus and SEN Tassie covering the action on radio.
