First Preliminary Final – Navarre v Lexton
Princes Park, Saturday 12th September
Lexton will aim to move one step closer to its first-ever MCDFNL premiership this weekend, but faces a massive stumbling block in the form of premiership favourite Navarre as the two league heavyweights square off in Saturday's first preliminary final.
Widely tipped by many as the team which could finally snap Navarre's 39-game winning streak, the Tigers will enter Saturday's clash with their sights firmly fixed upon putting a halt to Navarre's three-peat campaign. After narrowly going down to Carisbrook in the opening week of the finals, the Tigers showcased their strengths in the opening half of their semi final clash with Royal Park last week, as the Tigers combined aggression with slick ball movement to crush Bushy's finals hopes. However, the Tigers did suffer a momentary lapse in last week's second half, allowing Royal Park to close the gap between them, and coach Shane Fisher and his charges will be acutely aware that they can ill-afford such a fadeout against Navarre's explosive forward line and midfield this weekend. In Lexton's favour, they do have a defensive unit which looks perhaps the most capable of any in the league of shutting down Navarre's aforementioned goal kickers, with Jordan Egan likely to get a shutdown role on the dynamic Cody Driscoll, while Michael Jennings will be confident he has the strength and nous to blanket spearhead Ash Driscoll. Nick Spolding and Jordan Phelan's ability to direct traffic from the back half will also prove integral against the Grasshoppers' smooth-moving midfielders.
The Grasshoppers will largely be focussed upon progressing to a fifth straight grand final appearance unscathed in terms of injury. However, the Hoppers' coaching unit will also be conscious that Lexton have their sights firmly fixed upon unseating the reigning premier and proving their mettle alongside the league's top sides, particularly as they are only one of the three former Lexton Plains Football League sides yet to capture an MCDFNL flag since joining in 2011. That being said, the Hoppers know they are capable of getting the job done against the Tigers, and will stick to their normal gameplay in order to do so.
Navarre
B: Brent Flood, Zach Parry, Matt Newton
HB: Josh Driscoll, Rhett Murphy, Daniel Parkin
C: Lachlan Slorach, Sam Kaye, Danny Grellet
HF: Bryce Tickner, Jayden Fowkes, Billy Parry
F: Jesse Hannett, Ashley Driscoll, Ben Scott
R: Josh Fowkes, Daniel Reading, Riley Bibby
Int: Nicholas Murphy, Harley McKenny, Louis Hannett, Cody Driscoll
Emg: Aiden Lee, Jeremy Harrington, Aaron Slorach, Thomas Dyke, Nigel Greenaway
In: Ben Scott
Out: Aiden Lee
Lexton
B: Liam Cullinan, Jordan Phelan, Jordan Egan
HB: Nicholas Spolding, Michael Smith, Ryan Wait
C: James Templeton, Scott Clark, Damon Aspland
HF: Dylan Barr, Riley Browne, Lachlan Murray
F: Jacob Spolding, Matthew Brown, James Morrish
R: Nigel Reid, Mitchell Kennedy, Lachlan Pryor
Int: Nathan Barnes, Cohan Poulton, Bryce Karslake, Luke Evans
Emg: Justin White, Ashley Davies
In: Jacob Spolding, Mitchell Kennedy, Liam Cullinan
Out: Michael Jennings, Trevor Johnson, Justin Hobson
Second Preliminary Final – Carisbrook v Natte Bealiba
Princes Park, Sunday 13th September
Another year, and yet another finals blockbuster between Carisbrook and Natte Bealiba, with the competition's second and fourth-placed sides set to face off in Sunday's second preliminary final.
Since the Swans joined the MCDFNL in 2011 alongside Navarre and Lexton, finals clashes between these two sides have become a regular fixture come September, and have produced some memorable stoushes, none more so than Natte's last-gasp victory in 2011's preliminary final. Since then, however, the results have fallen in favour of the Redbacks, and the Brookers will rightly enter this weekend's clash as favourites once again. The only clash between these two sides thus far in 2015 delivered one of the games of the season, with the Redbacks snaring a memorable victory in the final quarter, largely thanks to some Matt Bilton magic, with the Redbacks dynamo booting three final quarter goals. However, since then, the Swans have suffered a torrid time with injuries, with integral midfielders Jarrod Bateson, Jacob Long and Evan Weir all confirmed to miss the remainder of the finals series. 2015 recruit Emmet Smith played his first senior game in last weekend's win over Harcourt since suffering a serious shoulder injury in round eight, and did boost the Swans' stocks, but the absence of Bateson and in particular, Long, who represented Natte's best hope of negating Bilton, will continue to worry Swans coach Shane Green.
The Redbacks will again be focussed upon defeating a side which has earned a reputation as one of Carisbrook's closest rivals in recent years, and will enter Sunday's clash confident of doing so. In the last clash between these two sides, the height and marking power of the Brook's key forwards, and in particular, Adam Hurse, caused the Natte defenders major headaches early on, and coach Tim McKay will be hoping to exploit that factor once again this weekend. McKay will also be focussed upon attempting to limit the impact of Natte's much-vaunted midfield in Brent Mortlock, Stephen Ross and Tom Douglas, who delivered a masterclass against Harcourt last weekend.
Carisbrook
B: Kurt Bruechert, Timothy Heenan, Jakob Tidyman
HB: Adam Hurse, Jake Bucknall, Nathan O'Keefe
C: Riley Herd, Luke Treacy, Hayden Barby
HF: Jonathon Gray, Joel Riske, Matthew Jukes
F: Patrick Jenes, Nathan Wright, Nichlos Wright
R: Brady Neill, Lachlan Edwards, Matthew Bilton
Int: Travis Cornwill, Ashley Robinson, Benjamin Kick, Ty Stewart
In: Benjamin Kick, Kurt Bruechert
Out: Mitchell Whelan, Jordan Bolding
Natte Bealiba
B: Nathan Ross, Jamie Evans, Trent Mortlock
HB: Daniel Gifford, Kurt Mortlock, Christopher Jardine
C: Dean Graco, Brent Mortlock, Zachary Perez
HF: Karl Morley, Jason Hunt, Matthew Stagg
F: Thomas Douglas, Jack Kennedy, Lachlan Cameron
R: Adrian Pilgrim, Ashley Evans, Ryan Weir
Int: Jarrod Graco, Stephen Ross, Emmet Smith, Brayden Mills
In: Brayden Mills, Jason Hunt
Out: Michael Columbro, William Collicoat
Last Modified on 11/09/2015 12:18