TOLLAND coach Aaron Mo'ane admits there will no shortage of emotion when he takes on former club Wagga United for the first time on Sunday.
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Mo'ane crossed from Tolland and spent one season as co-coach of Wagga United last year, before returning to the Wolves as their new Pascoe Cup coach for 2022.
He will take on United for the first time at Rawlings Park on Sunday, in a game he admits will have plenty of feeling in it.
"Emotions are definitely high. I look forward to it though," Mo'ane said.
"It's kind of a bit of a point to prove for me personally. And I think the boys are ready for it as well. I've been hyping it up all year so it should be good."
As well as Mo'ane facing United for the first time, there are seven players there at were formerly at Tolland.
Mo'ane knows the group well and believes getting on top early is the key.
"I think if we take our chances and we score early, it will get in their head and they'll probably do their own damage to themselves and we'll run over the top of them," he said.
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While keen to get in their head, Mo'ane also knows how dangerous United can be at their best.
"I know United, they're a quality outfit," he said.
"They've had mixed results this year but if they show up on the day, I know exactly what they're capable of because I coached them last year. They have plenty of talent so I've got no doubt that they're going to show up to this game and be ready to go."
Tolland, who are coming off a 4-2 win over Cootamundra, will be boosted by the inclusion of Jason Cuttle on Saturday.
An experienced player, Cuttle will come in for his first game of the season and slot into the Wolves' midfield alongside Daniel Okot and Kaylem Fitzpatrick.
"He knows exactly how much this game means, not only to me, but means to the club. It's a massive derby for Tolland and it is for United as well. It would be the biggest one in Wagga and he's ready to go," Mo'ane said.
"With such a young squad, he brings experience but he also brings that ticker and fire that will pump the boys up. A bit of leadership."
Tolland are seventh on the Pascoe Cup ladder, two points ahead of Wagga United.
Mo'ane is happy enough with their form, but wants more consistency.
"We're travelling alright, we're just a little bit inconsistent at the moment," he said.
"A lot of it comes down to not taking our chances. I can probably count when we played Henwood Park, we probably missed five or six literal one-on-ones, same thing against Coota last week, we had three, four or five chances we probably should have buried but it didn't happen.
"We're trying to fix it, and if we can fix it we'll starting to put games to bed a lot earlier because we're just making it harder on ourselves.
" We're fortunate enough to have three or four excellent creative players up front. We're creating so many chances, we just can't seem to finish."
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