From Launceston Examiner
Reported by Phil Edwards

TASSIE Devils co-captain Scott Stephens will line up for his 50th VFL game today in the Anzac Day commemoration clash against Frankston at Aurora Stadium tonight.

Devils coach Daryn Cresswell said yesterday that he hoped Stephens's milestone game would be added incentive for his teammates to beat the Dolphins.

"Although he didn't play with the Devils last year he has been a terrific contributor to Tasmanian footy and the Devils," Cresswell said.

"We've only had three guys play 100 games and Scotty is well on the way.

"Everyone likes to win milestones so it would be nice to get a win for him."

The Devils held a final full- squad training run at Aurora Stadium under lights last night and Cresswell said from a confidence point of view the team definitely needed a win.

"We've been working pretty hard but just obviously haven't got that four points which has been eluding us," he said.

"We've been in the games until three-quarter time against two quality oppositions but haven't been able to win which has been disappointing.

"The style of footy has been good and the guys should believe in it and we've seen it be successful - but we have to tighten up on the defensive side of our game and not give away silly free kicks - and the results will come our way," he said.

FitzGerald says the Cats are the form team in the VFL.

North Ballarat and Geelong each have two wins in three games.

However, FitzGerald quickly points to the make-up of Geelong. With virtually an injury-free list at Skilled Stadium, the Cats will field a combination almost exclusively featuring AFL players.

The Selkirk Roosters will run square into the likes of ruckman Steve King, key forward Brad Ottens and Steve Johnson, who, bar a pre-season misdemeanor, would be playing in the AFL.

Ottens is still a chance to be promoted, having been named on an extended interchange with Brent Prismall, Joel Selwood, Travis Varcoe, Shannon Byrnes and Kane Tenace for Geelong's AFL line-up to play the Kangaroos on Sunday.

THE Devils are looking to shore up their defence after conceding at least 30 scoring shots in their past two losing games.

Other significant inclusions include former Collingwood player Luke Shackleton, Kangaroos-listed Ben Ross after recovering from a shoulder injury, and Sam Whish-Wilson, who has served his one-match suspension for breaking team rules.

But co-captain Brett Geappen and veteran defender Ben Careless both have to pass fitness tests at training tonight to take their place in the team.

Kingborough's Jason Howard is expected to miss just the one week with bruised ribs, inside midfielder Leigh Adams has been promoted to the Kangaroos AFL team from their rookie list and Brody Johnson and Darren Crawford have been dropped.

Polo was prominent in defence and won the Gibbs-Lines Medal for best-on-ground.

Danny Meyer (four goals), Jack Riewoldt (three goals) and Matt White all look capable of coping with promotion to AFL level, while Kelvin Moore and Cameron Howat also stood out yesterday.

Polo played for the Tigers on Friday night against the Western Bulldogs and was dropped to try to gain some hard match conditioning.

"I think Deano just wanted a really good four-quarter game," Coburg coach Andrew Collins said.

"He's been on and off the bench and I think (Richmond coach) Terry (Wallace) just wanted to get some miles into his legs and he was very classy today."

Riewoldt, who resembles Mark Harvey and plays with Dermott Brereton-like flair, is gradually picking up the tempo. He doesn't turn 19 until October 31.

The Bombers were beaten 15.12 (102) to 14.11 (95) by reigning VFL premier Sandringham in the round three encounter at Windy Hill.

But it was the long-awaited return of Ramanauskas that will be the talking point out of the game.

It was Ramanauskas' first game since April 10, 2005, with the 26-year-old enduring a recurrence of cancer in his neck and a serious knee injury in the past two years.

A crowd of 2500 people gave Ramanauskas – now on Essendon's rookie list – a stirring ovation as he ran on to the ground.

He started on the bench, but was into the action 14 minutes into the first quarter.

Ramanauskas went on to collect 12 possessions and laid four tackles, and showed all his traits of calmness under pressure in an encouraging return by the 2000 Essendon premiership player.

"It was a huge story of everything he has gone through to come back and play," Bombers general manager Matthew Allan said.

"We will take a lot from it and we're pretty proud of the way Rama went about it.

"A lot of our guys in their first year were pretty lucky to play with Rama today, it's just disappointing we couldn't get a win for him."

After an even first quarter in which scores were level at 3.3 (21) apiece, the Zebras began to take control in the second term to open up an 18-point lead at half-time.

Cartledge stood tall as a ruckman and key forward as the Selkirk Roosters overpowered the fellow Kangaroos-aligned Devils.

Cartledge capped off his day's work with four goals and it could easily have been more but for some wayward shots from close range late.

His presence alone near goal was enough to unsettle Tasmania in the 18.12 (120) to 12.13 (91) victory, with the Devils unable to match his height and physical strength.

When he was not kicking goals, he was creating opportunities for the likes of first-year player Robert Gregg (three goals) and Stevie Dinnell (four) by drawing the attention of the Tasmania defence.

Dinnell was at his opportunist best, while the strongly built Gregg provided an example of how dangerous he is inside the 50-metre forward arc.

Cartledge began the day in the ruck, with the former Essendon big man helping provide the early impetus with Eddie Sansbury, Djaran Whyman, the explosive Jacob Spolding and Michael Searl before Tasmania hauled the Roosters back in.