AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL
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Kiama coach Bryce O'Connor is confident the Power can still be a South Coast premiership force this year, but remains wary of a wounded Nowra on Saturday.
While the rest of the competition had a bye, the Power faded in the second half in losing to Northern Districts by 10 points in last weekend's catch-up game.
It left them in the precarious position in fourth, but only ahead of Shellharbour and Nowra on percentage.
O'Connor has been left to lament a lack of depth at the club this year, with several players backing up from reserve grade to play firsts.
The tired legs were a contributing factor in the Tigers loss, after they controlled much of the first half. But O'Connor is concerned the Blues have become something of a 'bogey team' for Kiama, after upstaging them back in round two.
"Yeah, there's definitely something about them that we've had problems with when we've played before," he said. "I'm not exactly sure what it is, maybe they just don't like us."
Kiama had been steadily improving with comfortable wins over Northern Districts and Shellharbour before the loss in the catch-up battle with the Tigers.
In contrast, Nowra have been thumped by 110 points by the Bulldogs and 129 points by competition leaders Wollongong Lions.
"Nowra's just one of those teams though. They can be in bad form for a couple of weeks and then come out and be really tough.
"We just haven't had the legs to run out games, we've tried a few things but when reserves are short as well, it's not like you can give them a rest to be ready for first grade."
Josh Krull was a standout for Kiama in the Tigers loss, kicking five goals while representative on-baller Jack Mahoney and defender Josh Simpson have also been impressive.
After years of fighting it out for the flag with arch-rivals the Bulldogs, the South Coast dynamic has changed this year, with the Lions - moving out of the Sydney AFL competition - setting a premiership pace.
But O'Connor reckons the Power can surge when it counts.
"If we've got our full team, we'll be pushing hard in finals," he said.
"I expect us to be up and down all season depending on numbers. I think we can push up into the top three and see what happens from there."