'Season on the line': Redlegs to roll dice in effort to make NTFA footy finals

Midfielder Jack Dyer, the 2021 premiership captain who came back to the club this year, will return for the round 10 Cressy clash against Bridgenorth on Saturday.

Ironically, he broke his arm against the Parrots in round one.

Coach Brett Mansell said he would be an invaluable inclusion for the sixth-placed Redlegs.

"He's just a machine he's probably one of the hardest players at the ball that I've been around as a coach ... he's very influential and we've missed him massively," he said.

Meanwhile, coach Oli Cook said Bridgenorth's spearhead Rohan Sergeant would be unavailable due to travel across the next fortnight while defender Aidan Wright has a hand injury that will keep him out.

Mansell said the Redlegs, who are one win behind fifth-ranked Hillwood, needed to win six or seven of their last eight games to have a chance of sneaking into the top five.

"We'll go all out attack because we have to win games now. We can't defend our way into a final series from here," he said.

"We're similar to the way we were in 2021 to be honest, we were four and four after the first eight and won it ... so we know where we're at and we know we're capable."

Mansell said the Redlegs had been in every contest this season except against Longford who they lost to by 59 points.

"It's been a real growing year for us as a group because we've changed the way we want to play and when we've done it well, we've done it really well," he said.

"We just haven't been able to do it consistently for long enough in games."

Fourth-placed Bridgenorth, who have Bracknell and ladder-leaders South Launceston in the next fortnight, feel they also have plenty to play for.

"Bracknell have a very strong list and probably don't deserve to sit 3-5, but that's how the competition sits at the moment, if you're slightly off, it can be dangerous," Cook said.

"A win could put us in second with a crack at the top dogs, a loss has us back in the fight just to make finals, so the repercussions are large."

Meanwhile, as The Examiner reported in April, it will be the first NTFA match played at Cressy Recreation Ground in about a decade.

The day will start with an under-12 clash between Cressy and Bracknell at 10.30am before the men's reserves at 12pm and the seniors at 2pm.

Mansell said the Redlegs had trained there in preparation.

"It's a massive ground, it's very wide so we'll structure up a little bit differently than we normally would," he said.

Cook said it was great to be involved in the day and praised those who had made it happen.

"We haven't gone down the path of training at Cressy but I've certainly been out to have a look at the venue and relayed relevant information to the group about the dimensions and how we need to play it," he said.

"We feel as if the change of venue falls in our favour as the ground is quite large, particularly wide, which is very different to Bracknell."