Sporting Carlton SC may be short of a preseason campaign, but will be more ready than any opposition to play this weekend. Lara, on the other hand, with an impressive preseason and promising opening round, is leaving coach Dale Harris still with selection headaches. Let's look ahead to this Saturday at Poplar Oval.

Sporting Carlton SC narrowly missed the week's registration deadline and therefore were forced to forfeit their Round 1 game. Lara will be their first opponent of the season and Sporting Carlton's squad will no doubt be eager to get their campaign underway and catch the 8-Ball that they have fallen behind already. Carlton have a strong history in the Australian Samali Football Championships making 4 of the last 5 quarter finals and being crowned champions in the 2012 tournament.

Lara have had quite the opposite start to the season, with preseason successes and an exciting come from behind, Round 1 victory. As coach Dale Harris said post-game, it was hard to flaw a single effort from any of his players on field against Kyneton. So where does that leave selection? A hard contest may have left some sorer than this time last week, but when every performance is as demanded, an unchanged squad may just be the right option for Harris. Damien Nasta will once again be the player to watch as he looks to stay on top of the Golden Boot race in the early stages of the season. Nasta claimed last season's Golden Boot in Geelong, however his impressive show of 12 goals from 16 games in his last Metropolitan season in 2013 was still less than what he is capable of producing as this season may well show. The midfield of Justin Wilson, Chol Mangar and Heath Urquhart providing him shouldn't be underrated, yet Lara's depth in list will continue to press them for their spot, ensuring that good performances are a continuing trend into this weekend's game. At the other end of the ground, Sporting Carlton will find themselves struggling to score past Lara's in-form keeper, Aaron Pettman. Pettman's performances have had Lara's job made easier through the preseason and the same happened in Round 1 with big saves occurring at the most important times in the game, as Kyneton looked to snatch the momentum back. A similar performance against Carlton could have the under-practiced team struggling to score and put pressure on Lara.

Poplar Oval needs to be a happy hunting ground in Round 2 if Lara want to be the team to set the pace for the rest of the league early in the 2015 season.