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Phoenix ready for pre-season challenge

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Manchester Phoenix player/coach Tony Hand says his team are looking forward to the pre-season weekend against the Sheffield Steelers.

Speaking on Friday evening Hand commented, "the guys have worked well in the short time we've been together in training and the two games against Sheffield will give us a good workout ahead of the start of the real thing."

Asked about the arrival of new signing Joe Tallari, Hand added, "Joe only arrived on Friday morning after three flights and almost fourteen hours travelling from his home in Thunder Bay. He was pretty tired having not slept much, but went straight to the gym to ride the bike before going to his apartment for some sleep. We'll see how he feels before the game on Saturday, but he'll definitely play on Sunday."

A Phoenix spokesperson noted, "Sheffield are working hard to promote the game as some big grudge match-up between Jeremy Cornish and Brett Clouthier, and we don't mind that. We have our own objectives over the weekend as we continue our preparation for the real thing next weekend with the opening rounds in the league. This weekend is about giving the guys a competitive workout and evaluating a few systems and line combinations. If they want to hype it up as a grudge match, that's their affair. We'll go about our business our own way."