Tasmania revel in having backs to wall against WAThursday, June 9, 2016 - 9:08 PM - by Chris Pike

IAN Callinan is back for the second straight year trying to defeat the WAFL in this year's state game this time playing for Tasmania while coach Brett Geappen will be hoping some help from his brother can help them get a victory against the odds.

Callinan represented the SANFL last year with the WAFL winning by 45 points at Lathlain Park with Western Australia backing up the wins over the NEAFL in Sydney and VFL in Northam the previous two years with a third straight state game victory.

The former Adelaide Crows rover has made the move to Tasmania this year and is now part of the state side for the clash at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday.

Coach Brett Geappen is glad to have experienced players like Callinan and former Hawthorn forward Mitch Thorp in his line-up, but is more looking forward to seeing how his young players handle the occasion.

"They are fantastic players but also fantastic leaders. Both had AFL experience and we will obviously rely on them quite heavily but honestly we have other players who can step up to the plate and have an even bigger influence. We think we've got other guys flying under the radar who can bob up and have an influence," Geappen said on 91.3 SportFM.

"Our side this year is very young and we have 10 debutants which is a huge amount. That can be a bit scary from a coaching point of view because you are unsure how they will step up to the level, but it's a big plus in terms of excitement and enthusiasm. It will be the first time they get to wear that famous guernsey and the boys are jumping out of their skin."

While he isn’t playing, Tasmania will also have some inside knowledge on the WA team and indeed the Bassendean venue with Tim Geappen on board helping his older brother.

He will serve as the runner or Tasmania after retiring at the end of last year following 164 games and 371 goals for Swan Districts as well as the 2010 premiership and playing twice for WA.

With the help of Tim, Brett Geappen has put in plenty of work on scouting the WAFL team in an attempt to pull off the upset win away from home.

"I've actually got him on board and he's doing the running for me. He has been a great wealth of knowledge on the opposition and he'll come across with us and he'll probably be as chirpy as he used to be when he was playing," he said.

"They probably don’t need to go to the length as we do with opposition analysis because they will back their ability against us, and fair enough, but from our point of view we'll heavily go over some of their footage and we've got a pretty good knowledge on certain match ups that will put us in good stead."

The floods earlier this week in Tasmania made it tough for the state side to all pull together for a training session on Tuesday, but Geappen is happy with the preparation overall and with state pride on the line, he is glad to see the north and south of the state put their rivalries aside.

"We didn’t train on Tuesday in the end because of the floods in Launceston where we were supposed to train. It's two hours north of Hobart and we couldn’t get there so we had to turn around at halfway and come back," he said.

"We had our meetings in our three different regions so the boys will be fresh after not training on Tuesday, but we had one last session on Thursday and be ready to go.

"There is a massive rivalry between the north and south but the one thing we've got that is a massive advantage is that when we put on that famous guernsey, and have that backs against the wall mentality which has always been a Tassie thing it brings out the best in us.

"The players get along fine and once we put that guernsey on we certainly gel as well and play for the whole state."

Geappen is under no illusions that Tasmania come to Perth as heavy underdogs for Saturday's state clash, but he and his team wouldn’t want it any other way.

"We have an enormous respect for the WAFL and the results over the last couple of years would be really pleasing for WA footy. We are under no illusions that our backs are against the wall but Leicester City won this year so you never know," Geappen said.

"We're not going away to just be competitive, we think we have a side that can win the game even though a lot of things would need to go our way for that to happen.

"Travel is obviously against us but having three WAFL games on the Monday could work in the favour with the short turnaround.

"If we can stay in the contest long enough we might be able to run over the top in the end. It's obviously going to be hard work but we're looking forward to the challenge."