Having been "humbled" last time out against O'Connor Knights, Yoogali SC will look to hit the ground running when they take on Wagga City Wanderers at Gissing Oval on Saturday.
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It will be the first time the two sides have met since the NPL2 grand final, which saw the Wagga side take the trophy in a penalty shootout.
Yoogali SC coach Luke Santolin feels it going to have a much different feel to the clash this time around.
"That's going to be the back story," he said.
"But I think in the context of the season being back to normality, I think both teams will just be focused on the three points."
Having suffered a tough defeat last time out, Santolin is expecting his side to want to come out firing against their nearest rivals.
"I think we agree that we need to put in a lot more work to get back to where we think we can be," he said.
" I think the consensus is that a lack of preseason has definitely taken away our sharpness. Last year we were blowing teams off the park. The first two games so far, you can see that we weren't struggling but firing on all cylinders.
"We have proud players in our team, and I think they will want to right some wrongs for the weekend."
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With it being such a long season, the Yoogali SC coach is hoping that the heavy loss will work in their favour come the back end of the season.
"That's the best thing about football. There is always next week and the chance to fix things, and no matter who it is against, every game is for three points," he said.
"Over a 21 round season, I hope that we will look back and say that it was a good thing that we lost so heavily so early because it showed us where we were at early on, and we can't rest on our laurels.
"We actually have to do the work, and I am confident that I will see a better version of Yoogali Soccer Club this weekend."
The Yoogali side will welcome back Mason Donadel and potentially Dean Catanzariti but will be without the services of centre-back Luke Pandolfo.
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