1. Watch out when Manly-Warringah presses the “Go” button
Manly Warringah proved once again the fire still burns for another premiership. There were question marks over them leading into the season with the losses of captain Tyrone Armitage, Lachlan Kilpatrick and Thomas Thurgarland and with East Coast’s first grade side coming back into the BLK Premier Division competition. However, after trailing by 40 points early in the final quarter, the GIANTS showed all their fight and class to claim victory with the last kick of the game from youngster Tom McCaffrey. With that, in the same weekend Hawthorn got pipped at the post, East Coast are far from unbeatable.
2. Pennant Hills are still a premiership contender
The Demons were very impressive in their Round 1 victory over St George. Many in the office were predicting that the Demons would fall away, after losing Phelan Medallist Alex Goodall and AFL Sydney Team of the Year captain, Lloyd Shepherd, and missing livewire forwards Steve Wray and Sam Zikman against St George, but the Demon’s younger generation showed that they are ready to take the next step and compete against the competition big guns. It was a super weekend for the Demons with a clean sweep across the grades, including a surprise Under 19 Division One win also against the Dragons.
3. The future looks bright for UTS
The last few seasons haven’t been kind for UTS, usually finishing in the bottom third of the competition although season 2015 could be a different story. With new coach, Nic Fosdike bringing a new game plan to the Bats and the inclusions of some class players could see the Bats be the surprise packets of 2015. Upward of a dozen new faces in the first grade side breathed light into the Bats as evident in their season-opening slaughter of UNSW/ES and helped the Bats almost complete a Green Rinse (only lost in Division Five). Could they challenge Manly-Warringah’s strange-hold on the Club Championship?
4. Season 2015 will be one of the tightest
After only one round it looks as though the race for the top five will be a tight one. After being predicted to finish 7th in the AFL Sydney previews, North Shore produced an upset on the weekend with a 6 point victory over Western Suburbs. It was well documented that the Bombers were slaughtered by injuries last year and will be looking to improve on their six wins from 2014 and winning these games against other finals contenders is a good start.
5. Redemption on the mind
Interestingly, every side that lost in a Grand Final won in Round 1 on the weekend. Pennant Hills (Premier Division- 29 points), UTS Bats (Division One- 49 points), Blacktown Magic (Division Two- 107 points), Penrith Rams (Division Three- 152 points & Division Five- 111 points), Wollondilly Knights (Division Four- 35 points), North Shore Bombers (Under 19 Division One- 30 points) and Moorebank Magpies (Under 19 Division Two- 20 points) were all convincing winners as they look to do one better this season.
6. Balmain better then last year?
After claiming the 2014 Division One premiership last year, it seems as though Balmain will be very hard to beat in 2015. They showed what they can do on the weekend defeating fellow premiership contender Holroyd-Parramatta by 49 points. Coach Luke Jarjoura was damaging up forward with 4 goals with new recruit Wayd Blackburne also performing well.
7. Who’s the team to beat in Division Two?
Before this round started, Penrith were favourites to be at the top of the table by season ends. However, after one round, everything has changed. Manly were predicted below the finals mark but have now put their hat in the ring to be called premiership favourites after defeating the Rams by 25 points. Last Years runners-up, Blacktown, produced a flawless performance running out winners by 107 points against North Shore while Camden and Randwick City also joined the winners list. Only time will tell who will be holding up the premiership cup in September.
Last Modified on 14/04/2015 10:55
