At the halfway stage of the season, everything points to a Grand Final rematch between Manly-Warringah and Pennant Hills given the Premier Division ladder as it stands.
The chasing pack is led by Western Suburbs and St George with Sydney University enjoying some breathing room for now in fifth place.
The great thing about football is that it can all change with one kick to win a match.
Campbelltown v Western Suburbs
The AFL Sydney Match of the Week will be telecast this weekend from Monarch Oval where Western Suburbs will be looking to retain third place against Campbelltown.
A closer match is expected than their Round 1 duel where Western Suburbs were resounding 90-point victors.
Western Suburbs missed a great chance to announce themselves as true premiership contenders when they were swamped by ladder-leaders Manly-Warringah at home, going down by 52 points.
Yannick Milligan-Saville would no doubt be one of Kevin Eynaud’s favourites such is his development under the veteran coach. Lindsay Scown was another to relish the contested nature of last week’s game.
A challenge will be creating scoring opportunities on the expansive Monarch Oval pastures after only generating ten scoring shots last week.
Limiting the outside run of Matthew Round and Leigh Conway would be a focus of Neil Brunton’s training sessions this week.
Campbelltown had their chances against second-placed Pennant Hills, but again fell away in the second half- managing only two goals.
Jeconiah Peni was best against the Demons while Taran Etto and Cameron Gordon continued on their good form which saw them represent their club on the Interleague scene.
Danny’s Prediction: Western Suburbs by 30 points
UTS v St George
St George will start warm favourites but nothing more this weekend against UTS at Waverley Oval.
UTS notched their second win last weekend away to Sydney Hills Eagles by 20 points to maybe suggest they are building for a late run at the finals race.
The commentary on Tom Sundberg in this column raised some eyebrows but credit should be given where it is due with the Collingwood VFL recruit among the best for the Bats on the weekend.
The challenge will be if he can back it up when his side most needs it against one of the fancies for the flag.
Sam Way would find his way into most Premier Division backlines and you can only love his unabated attack on the football. The experience of former SANFL player, Josh Maddox also shone through for the victors last weekend.
St George only did what they had to do in disposing of UNSW/ES at Olds Park on the weekend.
They could’ve killed off the game by half-time if they kicked straight and did lack a genuine target outside Nick Ryan.
What was impressive was the performance of their youngsters. Dominic Killworth just slips into this category despite having decent senior experience with Sydney Hills previously.
Justin Maldigri and Nick Shaw (this weeks Rising Star nominee) in particular were dynamic whilst it was hard to miss Daniel Tomlins physically or with ball in hand.
Danny’s Prediction: St George by 25 points
UNSW/ES v Sydney Hills Eagles
UNSW/ES continued their run of honourable losses last weekend against St George but here comes their chance to put the lamb to the slaughter against the Eagles at home.
The Eagles are last on the log with one win to their name.
Add to this the fact the cavalry are starting to return with Peter Kefalas and Max Collett likely to play after long injury lay-offs. They are arguably the two most important within the Bulldogs outfit.
While they will take time to get match fitness, their inclusions should lift the Bulldogs’ spirits.
Joel Robbie and Jeremy Daniher rolled their sleeves up last weekend, while Hayden Nichols is also starting to get to his best after only a few games back from his own injury layoff.
The Eagles were well within a sniff at home against the Bats last weekend.
Aaron Drinkwater was best for the Eagles but again it will be a tough ask, especially away from home.
Danny’s Prediction: UNSW/ES by 29 points
North Shore v Pennant Hills
North Shore’s campaign reached crisis point last Saturday with an 89-point defeat at the hands of Sydney University.
In a true eight-point game, they now sit six competition points behind the fifth-placed Students.
Injuries have cruelled their season to date but with adversity comes opportunity, albeit against the second-placed Demons.
Selby Lee-Steere and Sam Carruthers will be crucial to the Bombers hitting the scoreboard in the face of the noted Pennant Hills attack.
The Demons are not close to full throttle yet and have found a way to win in the last fortnight.
Tim Wales played arguably his best game of the season as the Demons overturned a half-time deficit against Campbelltown.
The trio of Damian Dell’Aquila, Lloyd Shepherd and Alex Goodall are highly respected and add great leadership value to what is already an experienced outfit.
Danny’s Prediction: Pennant Hills by 70 points
Sydney University v Manly-Warringah
If looking at the schedule at the start of the year, you probably wouldn’t have circled this as a match between two top five sides.
Yes, Manly-Warringah would have fit the bill, but Sydney University with all due respect have come from the clouds after lowly finishes since their inception into the NEAFL.
A twilight match at Sydney University No. 1 should be worth something for the Students in what is their headline match for the weekend, given their NEAFL side has the bye.
The Students are reportedly suffering injuries to some key players but will be competitive given the way they put the Bombers away last weekend.
Evan Smith had a day out with eight majors in a best-on-ground performance. Sam Orton and Glen Smith have been impressive in recent times.
Speaking of impressive, Manly-Warringah would have gone shorter on the tote if that was even possible with the nature of their powerful win against Western Suburbs.
Never short of confidence anyway, the GIANTS played like the big boys muscling the Magpies out of the contest, slowly but surely.
The defending premiers will no doubt have a number of players featuring in the 20 to 1 series starting next week where we count down the top 20 players of the competition at the moment.
James Brain was superb and has made the GIANTS midfield even better since joining over the off-season. Connor Pettersson has been one of the best players both times since returning from injury.
On the small deck at Sydney University, the midfield battle will be even more pivotal to the result than normal.
Danny’s Prediction: Manly-Warringah by 33 points
Last Modified on 19/06/2014 16:04
