By RICKY TOZER

(Goulburn Post Friday 20th April, 2007)

The Goulburn Dirty Reds will be out to erase some of the pain caused from their grand final loss when they take on Yass in the opening round tomorrow. The Reds took out the minor premiership in 2006, but couldn't handle the power of Harden in the grand final.

The Reds have basically the same side as last year and new coach Matthew O'Rourke is hoping they can go one better in 2007.

"All of the guys are looking forward to starting and I think there is an expectation of going one step further than last year," O'Rourke said.
"The team is very similar to last year, we have seen a few new faces around, but don't really know much about them as yet. The team has a lot of guys who have played grade union over the last few years and know what to do.

"The likes of Matt Klem, Dave Anable and Jeff Caldwell give us plenty of experience and then the younger players like Anthony Allport, Mick Webber and Rob Sheekey are all used to the competition."

The Reds will be without former captain/coach Ben Pearson for some of the season for personal reasons, however he will still play an important role with the club.

"Unfortunately Ben will be missing for a bit of the year. I am not sure what role he will play in the season, but he will be involved. But to lose a player like him is a big blow," O'Rourke said.

"Anthony Allport will take over the captain's role. He is a younger player and has been around for three or four years and also had a year overseas," he said. "He is a very competitive player and has some very good skills."

The Reds take on Yass in the opening round and despite Yass' ordinary performance in 2007 O'Rourke is expecting a rugged battle.
Yass took out the competition in 2005, but lost a lot of players for last year, with them fading badly.

"I have played against Yass myself and you never have an easy match against them," O'Rourke said. "If they do get back some of the players they lost they will be a formidable outfit.

"They are never an easy team and are always very competitive, so I am not expecting an easy start to the year."

After pre-season hit outs in the Crookwell 10s and against Taralga and Bowral O'Rourke is hoping his troops can switch on for the opening round and reproduce some of the efforts that saw them grab the minor premiership.

"Coming out of a year where we were runners up I will be looking for the guys start well. They know what they have to do and what the end result can be," he said. "We are coming off a few pre-season games, so the guys will have to be ready for the season."

The Reds and Yass do battle tomorrow at Yass tomorrow, with first grade kicking off at 3pm.