PEEL must stop East Fremantle’s prolific midfield if it is to register its first win of the season, according to football operations manager Brad Bootsma.

The Thunder takes on the Sharks Friday afternoon at Bendigo Bank Stadium, in what looms as a critical encounter for the home side.

The Sharks boast a talented midfield containing the likes of reigning Sandover Medallist Rory O’Brien and former Brisbane and West Coast ball magnet Bradd Dalziell, who is coming off a 30-disposal, four-goal effort against Claremont last week.

Bootsma said the Thunder midfield group have worked hard on improving its contested ball, and it was ready to tackle arguably the competition’s best midfield.

“For us, we want to win the hard ball and win the footy, so I think it’s more about the transition from offence to defence and vice versa, so we have to make sure we have a good balance in our midfield,” Bootsma said.

“O’Brien and Dalziell are very good outside players so we will be looking to stop the influence of those two guys.”

Bootsma said, while securing a victory this weekend was vital, he was adamant the strong preparation indicated that a win was not too far away.

“We’ve just got to keep doing our processes right, and that will come when we play full four-quarter consistent effort,” he said.

“Consistency is the challenge each week, we’re no different to any other side and every team is out to try and get those efforts in each week.

“So when we’ve got that flow going our way it’s working well but when the opposition have got it, we have got to work out how to stem the flow of influence.”

Bootsma highlighted better ball use going forward as the key to the Thunder securing its first victory in 2014.

“If we can stop their run and use our skills going forward, I think it will go a long way to winning the game.”

With the likes of Jon Griffin and Craig Moller, Peel’s tall forward line is set to stretch the Sharks defence once more, with crumbers Mat Brown and Kelvin Lawrence to take advantage of the contest at ground level.

While the players will approach the special Good Friday fixture like any other game, Bootsma said it was a great opportunity for Peel fans to come along and experience high quality footy.

“For us as a club, it’s really good that we can promote Peel Thunder as a football club and kick off the Easter weekend, and really give the supporters something to enjoy going forward,” he said.

Last year’s corresponding Good Friday clash saw a bumper crowd watch the Sharks defeat the Thunder by 23 points, and Peel is aiming to reverse that result tomorrow.
Bounce down is 2.15pm at Bendigo Bank Stadium.