North Gippsland FNL Round 16 preview

This week in NGFNL action the top five sides take on the bottom five. This scenario would usually lead to a raft of lop-sided blow outs but at least three coaches in charge of sides currently in the five will not be taking their games for granted. Recently re-appointed Heyfield coach Rick Galea will know only too well what Cowwarr are capable of. The Saints trailed the roos by less than a kick at three quarter time when they last met and of course knocked off second placed Yarram earlier this year.

Yarram coach Matt Scholz will be well aware Sale City are now at a stage where every game for them is an elimination final while Sam Bristow, the man in charge at Rosedale, has seen his side slip from third to fifth in the last fortnight and faces a Woodside team coming off a 43 point victory last week.

MATCH PREVIEW

On the back of a disappointing loss to Woodside last week Cowwarr welcome Heyfield to town Saturday. The Saints finals hopes are long gone but they could well have a huge say in the make-up of the top 5 closing out their season with matches against Rosedale and Glengarry after this week’s clash with the Roos. Winning two of those three would give The Warr a seven win-eleven loss season which, after managing just two wins in 2018, would be considered a pass mark for first year coach Jeremy Jones. Heyfield on the other hand will be looking to hold on to their top three spot with a win prior to season defining games against TTU and Rosedale in the lead up to their likely return to the finals.

MATCH PREVIEW

Churchill have topped the ladder for several months now but their coach Chris Williams said last week he was far from content with his sides form leading into their match with Rosedale. 30 scoring shots and a 25 point win over the side that was third on the ladder will hopefully have cheered him up a little. This week’s opponents, Glengarry, were on the receiving end of a huge loss in which they managed just two behinds after quarter time when going down to TTU by 181 points.

While the Pies might put up a better effort at home it is hard to mount a case for them getting the points in this one. Those interested in seeing a contest at Glengarry on Saturday will need to set their alarms for an early start with the home side topping the table in the Under 18s and their opponents sitting second.

MATCH PREVIEW

A red hot TTU outfit get another soft kill this week when they come up against Gormandale. Bomber coach Michael Duncan slotted a dozen in his sides massive win over Glen and he is a chance to double up this week with Gormy conceding a whopping 210 points in their last outing. If it were not for some inaccurate kicking in the second half in which their opponents, Yarram, kicked nine goals 16 behinds the 182 point margin would have undoubtedly topped 200. It will be interesting to see if the Bombers can better that benchmark this week.

MATCH PREVIEW

After slipping from third to fifth over the last fortnight Rosedale will be desperate to arrest the slide and solidify their spot in the top five when Woodside pay them a visit this week. Woodside have been a curious case study over the past month or so. They have pushed TTU to the brink, outscored the top side six goals to three in a quarter, been spanked by Heyfield before last week dominating Cowwarr with a seven goal first quarter blitz which saw them lead all the way to record their third win for the year. It is those two high scoring quarters and the Wildcats effort against Tyers that will have Rosedale coach Sam Bristow on edge leading into this clash.

Bristow acknowledged Woodside as “a very capable team” and noted that the Wildcats had “two of the premier ruckmen in the competition” in Ryan Foat and Tom Crosby. Bristow was also keen to put the clamps on Wildcats forwards Gary Jones and Dan Missen who he thought were key to the Wildcats kicking a winning score. Whilst noting the strengths of his opponents the Rosedale coach was conscious of “not sacrificing our own game plan” in order to focus on his opponents as Rosedale look for the win which would all but guarantee them a finals berth.

MATCH PREVIEW

It’s make or break for Sale City this week when they take on a rampant Yarram line up. The Dogs now find themselves in the unwanted “mathematically possible” category when it comes to their finals chances. Having been dismantled by third placed Heyfield last week the Bulldogs need to win all three of their remaining clashes to be any chance of playing finals footy.

The Dogs also happen to have the toughest run home of any finals aspirant. After this week’s game they meet fourth placed TTU before finishing the home and away season by taking on top of the table Churchill. Lloyd Christmas himself might be pushed to declare there is a chance but any side that includes Bohdi Walker, Jacob Schuback and a raft of other seasoned finals performers is a side no one should be taking lightly.

Yarram coach Matt Scholz was only too aware of City’s circumstances and is expecting an opposition that “will be giving everything to keep their season alive” come Saturday afternoon. Whilst highlighting that City have several players capable of winning the game off their own boot Scholz preferred to focus on his own structures. The theme for the Demons this week according to the coach is to “be clean with ball in hand.” This task will be made all the easier with the classy Jack Weston , renowned for his excellent ball use, joining Ben Vardy and Trek Davis as additions to last week’s team. Scholz also hoped Shem Rendall would be available for selection after over-coming a recent injury.