Charles Sturt University ruckman Andrew Dickins is looking forward to locking horns with East Wagga-Kooringal star Nick Hull on Saturday and is hoping his teammates can also rise to the occasion and claim a top-four scalp.
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Dickins has made a big impression in his first season in the Farrer League.
Another best-on-ground effort last week at Temora has him joint leader (with Marrar forward James Lawton) in the Player of the Year award, voted on by coaches.
That's despite playing two games with a knee injury that saw him primarily posted forward.
"It's refreshing, actually. It's a very young club and it brings back a bit of nostalgia for when you were a young fella and brings you back to when it was all about fun," Dickins said.
But Dickins has thrived on being a senior player and the Bushpigs have benefited, sitting fifth on four wins in seven games. But they're yet to beat any of the teams above them.
The Hawks have named Hull to start in the ruck, and the battle of the big men could be particularly important.
"Hully's obviously been the premier ruckman in the comp for a long time. I've never played against him," Dickins said.
"He seems like a ripping bloke and it'll be good to go up against him. I'm looking forward to it actually.
"But it's huge for us. We've been right in games. Marrar blew us out in the last quarter. At The Rock we were even at three-quarter-time but they had the wind and finished us off after we'd cost ourselves early letting in four goals against the wind. That was the difference really.
"And North Wagga blitzed us away in a quarter-and-a-half or a half."
The former Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes player said the challenge is also an opportunity.
"We need to take it upon ourselves to play out four quarters and really take it to these top four teams.
"If we can string together four quarters of footy, it'd be great. Everyone says that every year. It's an age-old saying but it's a hard one. If you can do it, anyone can beat anyone in this comp I think."
CSU almost got first hand experience of that last week, down against winless Temora at three-quarter-time.
"Our work-rate's always there. It's probably more about decision-making and that's just a barometer of younger players.Consistency comes with experience. A uni club is a very transient club, as we all know, and you don't get many 100-game players or even 50-game players in a side," he said.
"It's a rule of thumb that the more you play together the better you're going to get."
Barellan, meanwhile, have submitted a late clearance for highly-regarded Yarrawonga big man Brandon Symes for their game against Marrar.
The Ovens and Murray League footballer is likely to play in the ruck and up forward.
The Two Blues are without Melbourne-based ruckman Mitch Gorman. They have also lost Jack Tyrrell from their named team.
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