The Bendigo Bank Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League Preliminary Finals takes place at Princes Park this Saturday and Sunday and big crowds are expected to attend a couple of real crowd pleasing games.
First Preliminary Final – Navarre v Lexton
Lexton are back on track after a hard fought loss to Carisbrook a fortnight ago, but won a tough contest against Royal Park last week to progress to this week’s Preliminary Final against Navarre.
It was not all one way traffic in the battle of the Tigers, as Lexton had to fight hard to shake off Royal Park who continually applied the pressure to them, but the forward work of Matt Brown kicking 9 goals was the key to the match, as Lexton’s delivery to their forwards was far superior to Royal Park’s.
Lexton will need to be at their best if they are to have an opportunity to progress to the Grand Final as Navarre remains undefeated and should be very fit and confident after the week’s break, courtesy of winning the Qualifying final in week 1 of the final series.
Navarre will go into the game at full strength and will be very happy to have young Josh Fowkes available after facing the tribunal from an alleged incident during the Qualifying final, to which the tribunal found him to be not guilty. Fowkes will now be facing his biggest challenge in the ruck to date when he competes against dual AFL premiership Ruckman, Darren Jolly, who dominated the ruck for Lexton last week against Royal Park in his best game for the season.
Lexton appeared to over-finesse with their ball handling at times last week, causing a number of turnovers and a big improvement in this area will be needed to topple the undefeated Grasshoppers, but if they can get first use of the ball out of the middle and deliver to their forwards with the same precision that they did against Royal Park, then they could quite easily cause the upset of the season.
A close contest is expected and it will be no surprise if either team are victorious at 5pm on Saturday.
Navarre
B: Nicholas Murphy, Matt Newton, Josh Driscoll
HB: Ashley Driscoll, Lachlan Slorach, Aaron Slorach
C: Kris Brennan, Luke Hendy, Jayden Fowkes
HF: Cody Driscoll, Harley McKenny, Louis Hannett
F: Brent Flood, Ben Scott, Jeremy Harrington
R: Rhett Murphy, Sam Kaye, Daniel Reading
Int: Aiden Lee, Samuel Robertson, Josh Fowkes, Zach Parry
Emg: Billy Parry, Bryce Tickner, Daniel Parkin, Thomas Hannett
In: Aaron Slorach
Lexton
B: James Cusack, Joel Williams, Bryce Karslake
HB: Thomas Fisher, Michael Jennings, Lachlan Pryor
C: Jordan Phelan, Nathan Barnes, Nicholas Spolding
HF: James Templeton, Darren Jolly, Lachlan Murray
F: Justin White, Matthew Brown, James Morrish
R: Nigel Reid, Damon Aspland, Matthew Torpey
Int: Trevor Johnson, Ryan Wait, Riley Browne, Timothy Oliver
Emg: Michael Smith
In: Ryan Wait, James Morrish, Matthew Torpey
Out: Lewis Alexopoulos, Jack Faull
Second Preliminary Final – Carisbrook v Natte Bealiba
Two of the MCDFNL's most in-form sides are set to slug it out for a grand final berth this weekend, as Natte and Carisbrook square off in Sunday's second preliminary final.
While Carisbrook has had the benefit of a week off following its victory over Lexton in the opening round of finals, Natte was forced to take the tough route, scoring an impressive win over Newstead in last weekend's second semi final.
Despite a slow start to the season which was well below the standard expected of Carisbrook outfits, Redbacks coach Luke Treacy and his side have peaked at the right time of the season, and carry an impressive vein of form into Sunday's clash against the Swans. While the Redbacks have proven performers on every line, undoubtedly the biggest names in their line-up are ruck man-forward Jackson Bowen, who polled well in Monday night's Berry-Powell Medal, dynamic midfielder Matthew Bilton and mosquito fleet forwards, Cole Roscholler and Liam Cunningham. Bowen will likely find himself double teamed by Natte ruck duo Lachlan Cameron and Tyson Mortlock, while Dean Graco and either Brayden Mills or Nathan Ross will likely get the job on Roscholler and Cunningham.
Natte also has plenty of big names in its line-up, and none bigger than midfield star, Stephen Ross, who finished third in the Berry-Powell count. Ross has been in scintillating form so far this finals series, and will no doubt find Redbacks tagger Jon Gray at his side for much of Sunday's contest. Treacy will also be keeping a close eye on a couple of other Swans as well however, including young gun Tom Douglas, veteran Brent Mortlock, utility Zac Perez and small forward Ryan Weir, all of whom have had standout years.
While this year's form would suggest that the Redbacks will start Sunday's clash as favourites, and rightly so, Natte has proven that it is capable of producing a finals upset in the past, so the stage is set for a must-see contest this weekend.
Carisbrook
B: Jeremy Mc Innes, Timothy Heenan, Jonathon Gray
HB: Benjamin Kick, Justin Sculley, Brandon McRedmond
C: Nichlos Wright, Nick Robinson, Cole Roscholler
HF: Hayden Barby, Brady Neill, Luke Treacy
F: Ryan Hudson-Morgan, Matthew Bilton, Liam Cunningham
R: Jackson Bowen, Nathan O'Keefe, Mark Cox
Int: Clayton Furniss, Travis Cornwill, Scott Adam, Jakob Tidyman
Emg: Brayden Collicoat, Patrick Jenes, Andrew Lovett, Luke Robinson
In: Travis Cornwill, Ryan Hudson-Morgan, Clayton Furniss
Natte Bealiba
B: Dean Graco, Christopher Jardine, Nathan Ross
HB: Trent Mortlock, Jack Kennedy, Jamie Evans
C: Thomas Douglas, Jacob Long, Jared Hall
HF: Stephen Ross, Karl Morley, Kurtis Torney
F: Ryan Weir, Jason Hunt, Matthew Stagg
R: Lachlan Cameron, Zachary Perez, Brent Mortlock
Int: Kurt Mortlock, Daniel Gifford, Tyson Mortlock, Joshua Tong
Emg: Lachlan Douglas, Brandon Mason, Evan Weir, Benjamin Weir
In: Karl Morley
Last Modified on 12/09/2014 20:30