WHO CAN CLAIM EARLY EDGE?
By Louie Bulzomi
With stirring victories over perennial top sides Bambill and Gol Gol, Werrimull and Euston have gained the golden opportunity to get a crucial break over the rest of the competition when they collide in an early season blockbuster at Lake Cullulleraine. Euston should go in unchanged, while Werrimull will miss Matt Leeder, who’s out with an arm injury.
One of the biggest Achilles’ heels for the Bombers last season was their inability to win early road games, and Toby Quirk-Meeks knows how vital turning this around will be to his side’s hopes of snaring the double-chance. As for Ryan Tierney’s men, they will look to reposition their goalkicking radar after kicking 13 goals from 33 scoring shots last week.
The midfields bat deep and are both strong in-and-under, while the likes of Ian Mennie, Mahino Paola, Adam Thomson and Heath ‘Ash’ Bates are capable of turning this into the ultimate shootout. Therefore, it may come down to which defence holds up the strongest to determine the outcome. Given the travel factor, and the continued momentum from overrunning last year’s near-unbeatable premiers, the Magpies will go in slight favourites.
The other Round 1 victors, Cardross, venture over the George Chaffey Bridge to tackle Gol Gol in a match-up of fleet feet against hard nuts. The Lions are roaring after taking Nangiloc to the cleaners in the third quarter last week, and with Jake Zoch, Mark East and Darren McCarthy all firing, they appear ready to maintain that sort of standard. However the Hawks are no pushover, and they will be keen to overcome their second-half fadeout last week.
Robert Lindsay will need a lot more support if Gol Gol are going to be a chance, so expect the likes of Darren Brown, Tansley Hill and David Gray to stand up and lend a hand as they rotate between the middle and the forward 50. But they may very well have their hands full if Cardross again look to release Andrew Ferguson to float about in defence. Should that plan work for the second week in a row, the Lions should take the points.
It’s a rarity whenever Bambill start a season 0-1, so they will be determined to take charge in the early minutes of their encounter against Nangiloc at the Demons’ home ground. The Saints are hoping to regain twin towers David Hall and Leigh McIntyre if they can overcome injuries, while the Demons will want to erase last week’s third quarter terribleness from the memory bank and remain competitive for four quarters.
Ben Crosbie and Tristan Stephens showed a lot last week on debut for Nangiloc, so if they can repeat the dose and take the burden off the shoulders of Cameron Peters and Sam Lee, they will be thereabouts. But Bambill don’t normally drop two in a row, and with an engine room consisting of Ryan McClelland, Robert Morgan, Andrew Ross and Justin Merrett (just to name a few), they should get the job done.
Last Modified on 21/04/2012 08:49