The Devils will look to bounce back immediately from their first loss of the season when they return to UTAS Stadium for a clash with Sandringham this Sunday afternoon.

Like the Devils, the Zebras are coming off a round five defeat, having fallen to the Box Hill Hawks by a margin of 20-points.

Defender Nick Wiliams was one of Tasmania’s best against the Blues on Anzac Day, with his intercept game a highlight.

Williams believes the Devils learnt plenty from the 25-point loss.

“Obviously disappointing the loss but we’ve got a lot of things we can use to grow,” he said.

“Just defensively Carlton were able to kick through us a bit too easily so we will spend the week sharpening that up.”

The Devils are sitting third on the VFL ladder with three wins and one blemish.

Despite ending its 16-year alignment with St Kilda, standalone Sandringham is a respectable two and three.

“Like lots of the VFL clubs they are a club with a rich history and you can’t take anyone lightly so we will look into them and they’ll be pretty competitive,” Williams said.

After playing in front of a Tasmanian record VFL crowd of over 14-thousand last week, the Devils are excited to return to the north of the state.

They beat Port Melbourne by eight points at UTAS Stadium earlier this season. 

“It is always good to travel around and get to every part of the state and the Launceston crowd was amazing the last time we went up there, so looking forward to it,” Williams said.

For some fans, watching Tasmania play against Sandringham will evoke memories of the past.

The Zebras were Tasmania’s first opponent in the VFL when the state originally entered the competition in 2001.

Tasmania progressed as far as a Preliminary Final in 2004 – our best season – only to be denied a spot in the Grand Final by the Zebras.

Brett Geappen, who would later captain the Devils, kicked the state’s first VFL goal against Sandringham in the inaugural season.

“The boys spoke about who was going to kick the first goal, so it was a bit of a thing and I certainly didn’t think it would be me,” Geappen said.

“You close your eyes and you can certainly remember those things, so that was a special memory for me.”

Having galvanized the state behind them, the Devils will be out to create more fond memories in front of another strong crowd this Sunday.

The ball up is at 12:05pm, with the clash to be shown live on Channel 7 in Tasmania and elsewhere on 7Plus.