Adelaide Fire v Tassie Tigers: both sides need a win, and Sunday is their chance

Round 2 of Hockey One ends in Adelaide on Sunday, and it’s the fixture neither side can really afford to lose.

The Fire are at home for the first time this season. The Tigers have made the trip from Hobart knowing a good Sunday puts them right in the early-season mix, and a bad one leaves them chasing.

The women’s game: somebody gets off zero

Look at the bottom of the women’s ladder after Round 1. Tassie Tigers, seventh. Adelaide Fire, eighth. Nobody else is down there with them.

Tassie were held scoreless by the champions, Perth, in their opener. That’s no disgrace, Perth’s women kept the only clean sheet of Round 1, but it still means the Tigers start Sunday without a goal to their name this season.

Adelaide’s opener was wilder. They got beaten in Canberra, sure, but they scored three goals in seven minutes through Georgina Dowd, Ella Bruce and Emma Kitto. A side that can do that in seven minutes isn’t a bad side. It’s a side that switches off in patches and pays for it.

For our money, that makes Adelaide the more dangerous of the two on Sunday, especially at home. But Tassie won this exact fixture 3-2 in Hobart last November, so they won’t be travelling scared.

Players to watch: Dowd, Bruce and Kitto for the Fire, plus Dutch signing Cis van der Salm. For Tassie, Holly Pearson, Penny Squibb, Sophia Schwabe and Camila Raposo.

The men’s game: Tassie arrive with a win in their pocket

Different story with the men. Tassie’s men beat Perth 4-2 in Round 1, four different scorers, which is exactly how you want a season to start. They sit third.

Adelaide’s men sit eighth after that tough opening night in Canberra, and Sunday is their first home game under new head coach Dan Mitchell. First home games under a new coach tend to be emotional, scrappy things. Expect both.

Last November in Hobart, Tassie beat Adelaide 3-0 in the men’s game. The Fire haven’t forgotten that sort of scoreline, and home advantage is their best argument that Sunday goes differently.

Players to watch: Bryce Hammond, Hassan Singh and Jethro Eustice for Adelaide. Ehren Hazell, Hayden Beltz, Tim Deavin and Lex Tump for the Tigers.

When it starts, in your time

State Hockey Centre, Adelaide, Sunday 18 October:

• Women: 1:00 pm ACDT, that’s 7:30 am PKT
• Men: 2:45 pm ACDT, that’s 9:15 am PKT

Every Hockey One match streams live and free on 7plus in Australia, and internationally on the Hockey One Global Pass.

Win on Sunday and the season opens up. Lose, and Round 3 already feels like a rescue job. That’s why this one matters more than a Round 2 fixture probably should.