Missing trio puts pressure on Wagga RSL's batting depth

After almost single handedly chasing down Lake Albert's total last week, Ethan Bartlett comes out of the side.

He scored 63 as the Bulldogs chased down the 83 required for victory inside nine overs last week.

His opening partner Ethan Perry will also miss the match at Harris Park as will wicketkeeper Tom Lavender.

Bartlett and Perry are both unavailable for the clash but Lavender is set to be sidelined until the new year after breaking his finger.

Sam Perry hopes the issue, picked up at Australian Defence Force Championships, won't take too long to heal.

"He's hoping he will be right for the first game after Christmas but we will see how that pans out," Perry said.

"Fingers for wicketkeepers can be one of those stressful, annoying and agitating injuries so fingers crossed it's not as bad as he thinks it is and he'll be right after Christmas."

Lavender didn't realise the full extent of the issue until warming up for Saturday's win over the Bulls.

As such he fielded at short fine leg with Will Morley taking over the gloves.

It makes his return from an overseas holiday a fortnight ago all the more important as he takes on his former club.

The Bulldogs have brought in Braith Gain, Ben Radford and Hayden Cook back into their side.

With some of their most dangerous batsmen out of the side, Perry believes it gives an opportunity for others to step up to the mark.

"It's obviously no ideal as we had a good win last week and it's one of those annoying ones where you have everyone available one week and then a few people out the next week which makes it a bit hard for consistency but we always talk about how it allows the people who step up and take their place to try to forge a case to get picked the following week or cement their spot in first grade," he said.

"It's an exciting thing for a few blokes."

RSL are second on the ladder with Colts six points behind in fourth.

As such Perry feels it's an important clash for both sides.

"We probably see Colts finishing around the same spot as us on the ladder so they are the teams you need to be beating to try to make a case at the back end of the year," he said.

"It's another big game and they've got a fair bit of talent in their side with a few Riverina representatives and they are an all-round good side.

"They are definitely a team to be wary of and we will have to play our best cricket to knock them off."

With their outs, Perry knows it puts pressure on their batting line up.

He believes it will be the key to the clash.

"We've been bowling pretty well so it comes back down to our batting," he said.

"Everyone knows RSL have struggled with the stick in the last five or six years but if we can go back to our processes and hit our goals set during the week it should go a long way towards setting a decent total.

"We need a few blokes to step up and take it upon themselves to lead us with the stick."