Anyone in the Western Lacrosse Association will tell you facing one of the Harnett brothers is a handful in itself. Put the two together and your grief becomes two-fold.
Two of the more reliable, hard-nosed defenders in the entire league, Jon and Greg Harnett are back in the fold with the defending Mann Cup-champion Victoria Shamrocks, who are also three-time league champions.
Both are still alive in the National Lacrosse League playoffs with the Calgary Roughnecks and both will be relied upon for leadership once their pro seasons run out and they return.
You might as well call the two Harnetts the Nasty Boys.
鈥淲e joke about it now, but it wasn鈥檛 fun,鈥� younger brother Greg, 25, said of having to face Jon, 27, when he was a member of the Coquitlam Adanacs prior to joining the Shamrocks at the trade deadline three years ago.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a tough competitor to play against. He鈥檚 very talkative on the floor. We ended up losing that series [the 2012 playoffs when Coquitlam, third, knocked off Victoria, which was second]. It wasn鈥檛 fun at all. He鈥檚 a fierce competitor and he lets you know when he鈥檚 winning.鈥�
And he also lets you know where he is on the floor at all times.
鈥淚鈥檇 say we鈥檙e agitators, in a sense, but I think we play good defence and that throws off their right side,鈥� added Greg. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say we鈥檙e just completely agitators, we have some offence and other aspects to our game.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 like to be easy to play against. We take pride in making it tough on the other team and we鈥檙e not going to go out there and be easy on them.鈥�
That鈥檚 a big part of lacrosse 鈥� intimidation and all-out nastiness, especially on defence.
鈥淓very team has a few of them, so why not put your name in there and try to be the best at it, right?鈥� said Jon. 鈥淎ny little advantage we can get on the floor, either of us will take, and there are five or six other guys on this team who can play that type of game.鈥�
The Shamrocks begin the season May 20 at home against Nanaimo. It will be a much different-looking team, especially early on with NLL playoffs continuing, but the Harnetts are two of several veterans returning.
鈥淥bviously, it鈥檚 a different team, losing about 12 guys, but we have a lot of young guys coming in who are working real hard in training camp,鈥� said Greg. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to be that hard-working team. We still have a lot of guys coming back in [Rhys] Duch, Smallsy [Corey Small] and Kinger [Jesse King]. It鈥檚 going to be a different look and we鈥檙e going to have to work hard this year to earn what we can get.鈥�
The Harnetts certainly aren鈥檛 about to roll over, it鈥檚 just not part of the Orangeville Northmen products鈥� makeup.
鈥淎bsolutely, that鈥檚 the goal coming into the season,鈥� Jon said of winning a fourth-straight WLA title (he鈥檚 been a part of all three like his younger sibling). 鈥淚t鈥檚 on some of the older vets to carry the team early to allow the younger guys to get their feet under them.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e great players and this is a whole new level, but they鈥檙e ready to play up to it. The first couple of games we鈥檒l have to ease them into it as much as we can, but the goal is to go east [to the Mann Cup] in September. That鈥檚 definitely what we鈥檙e aiming for.鈥�
CLOVER POINTS: Talented sniper Duch was expected to sign his contract with the Shamrocks on Wednesday night as he returns for the 2016 campaign.
