PREVIEW: BOX HILL v MELBOURNE

Round 14 of the Direct Connect #DewarShield sees Box Hill host Melbourne in the Match of the Round, and a replay of last year’s Preliminary Final.

The Match of the Round sees Box Hill host a Unicorns side determined to win and move back inside the top four, after going down to Melbourne Uni last week.

When these two sides met in Round Three it was an absolute cracker, Box Hill edging Unicorns 32-31. The Broncos also edged their three encounters with Melbourne in 2014, 22-19 in a Preliminary Final, 37-32 away from home in Round Nine and 23-22 last time they met at Box Hill.

But while the Broncos have had the edge in recent battles, a combined winning margin of 10 points from four matches hardly leads to any suggestion of much advantage, and Unicorns’ Head Coach Anare Koliavu has issued his troops with a rallying call.

“Box Hill are on top and can run from anywhere, which is hard to defend,” Koliavu said. “We need all of our players to step up; it’s that time of the year where we need everybody playing their role first, and extras come later.”

Broncos Head Coach Andrew Slyfield knows what to expect, in what is sure to be a fierce battle.

“Melbourne are a big strong side who will be very direct with their forwards and backs,” he said. “They will look to get dominance at contact and the breakdown and we will need to stop them, as well as create some pressure of our own.

“I’m looking for our loose forwards to have a big game, in particular Sema Hafoka who has just been selected for the Melbourne Rising Extended Training Squad.”

The match will be live tweeted via @melbournerebels

Source: Rebels Media Unit

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