WHOROULY will be aiming to overturn four years of misery when it takes on Milawa this Saturday.
The Lions last beat the Demons back in round six of 2008, and have lost their past six encounters by an average of nearly 10 goals.
But they will carry the best form they have shown since their premiership year of 2007 into this week's contest, having opened the season with five straight wins.
Greta was Whorouly's most recent victim, thumped by 74 points last Saturday.
While the Blues were down on key personnel, with Daniel McLaughlin, Brad Bell, Brent Nicholls and Scott Miller all out, the Lions had their own concerns with Adam Pascoe, Kieren Schulz, Brad and Scott McNamara, and Luke Elkington all withdrawn from the side that beat King Valley by 25 points the previous week.
Whorouly passed its depth test with flying colors, with youngsters Murray Bennett and Tim Ruaro among the best players, and James Neary and Brodie Bourke also playing their roles well.
The Lions made up for a poor start against King Valley, building a 28-point lead over the Blues by quarter time, with coach Brendan Roche crediting the early buffer to a hard working on-ball brigade.
"We've really been concentrating on our starts, and that's all about getting first use of the ball in the middle," Roche said.
"Against King Valley, they just did it better than us, so we really needed to fix that against Greta.
"I thought we were a bit sluggish for the first five minutes, but after that we got going and started winning the hard ball."
Key forward Richie Leahy continued his stunning start to the year, booting nine goals in a best on ground performance and taking his season tally to 42 majors from five games.
"Richie is in very good form," Roche said.
"He was being double-teamed a bit, but even when he's not marking the ball he's bringing it to the ground and opening the door for guys like Liam Harrington and those other guys to kick goals."
After a high attrition rate through the preceding week, Roche was relieved to get through the game without any further injuries, and said a handful of players could be back to face Milawa.
"I don't think we could have handled any more injuries, so it was good to get through unscathed," he said.
"We had an unlucky week with injuries at training and in the workplace, but we should get a few of those guys back.
"Kieren Schulz cut his hand at work and had to get a few stitches, but he should be right, and Tom Scullie hurt himself at training in Melbourne.
"We'll get Adam Pascoe back from suspension, and Scott McNamara should be back as well."
Roche said the Lions were determined to keep their unbeaten run going, and knew what they had to do to break their drought against the Demons.
"We haven't beaten them since I've been back at the club, and they have given us a few hidings," he said.
"We'd really like to turn that around, and I think a lot of it is going to come down to the midfield battle.
"They have some very handy mids, with blokes like Scholte and Stamp going through there, but if we can get on top of them it should put us in a strong position."
By - SCOTT ANDERSON.
ON FIRE: Whorouly's Richie Leahy was best on ground against Greta last week, and has now booted 42 goals from the first five matches.
PHOTO: Scott Anderson
Last Modified on 11/05/2012 10:51