“THIS is our blood game, it’s a big one”.

Orange Wanderers veteran Adam Hurford pulled no punches leading into today’s men’s Premier League Hockey clash with Bathurst Souths, a grudge match of epic proportions.

“There’s huge rivalry there,” he said.

“We’ve had games against them where things have happened that shouldn’t on a hockey field. There’s been cards thrown out left, right and centre.

“It’s always a physical game, and this won’t be any different. (2015 recruit) Matty Johnson, being a Souths junior, adds to it but I know he’s looking forward to it.

“I’m confident we can come away with it, but it won’t be an easy task that’s for sure.”

In Hurford’s eyes, to claim a victory today his troops cannot afford to let the Bathurst side stand over them. In his words, “we can’t back down at all”.

“We can’t let them intimidate us,” he explained.

“They’re a physical side and we can’t let them push us off the ball, that’s very important.”

Wanderers sit third and are coming off a 3-2 victory last weekend, while Souths are fourth and coming off a thumping 5-1 loss at the hands of Lithgow Panthers.

Hurford said his side is well aware Souths will be even more fired up than usual as a result, particularly with a home crowd behind them, and conceded his side’s job is made tougher by the loss of gun Englishman Todd Freedman, who snapped his collarbone last week.

“He is a big loss, he’s looking at six weeks and should be back before semi-finals though,” Hurford said.

“We’ll miss him across the defensive midline more than anything, but we’re confident the guys filling his shoes will do well.

“We’ve been working on ball retention, and taking the right options at training, and we trained very well on Thursday.

“We’re looking to take that into the game.”

Wanderers’ clash with Souths kicks off at 3.20pm at Cooke Hockey Complex in Bathurst.