This weekends round in the TRFM Gippsland league is in support of mental health. 24% of Australian young people suffer from anxiety, substance use disorders or other mental illness and 45% of adults will experience a mental illness at some stage in their lives. All of the senior home game clubs will be wearing light blue socks as well as the A grade teams wearing blue bibs.
A Sunday blockbuster between rivals Morwell and Moe will highlight round 12 of the TRFM Gippsland League.
Fresh from a confidence-boosting win over Sale, the reigning premier is looking to make it two in a row as it continues its push for a spot in the top five.
“We still have a lot of hard work ahead of us, starting with a must win against Moe,” said Morwell coach Joel Soutar.
Its opponent Moe is coming off consecutive losses to Warragul and Traralgon.
“Look I think we are half a chance. We have been poor for a couple of weeks now, we were really poor against Warragul, but last week we brought the right attitude and if we can put it all together we won’t be far off, “ said Moe coach Adrian Burgiel.
“They (Morwell) are the middle of the road, same as us, they have won a couple more games but we will go in confident we can win, but everything will need to be right,” said Burgiel.
The Lions will be without Luke Webber for between three and four weeks, after he suffered a hamstring injury in the opening minutes of last weekend’s clash with Traralgon.
“Mitch Stanlake didn’t play either, but that didn’t cost us the game. We were up by two goals early, but our skill errors let us down,” Burgiel said.
Morwell has won its past six straight against Moe. While a win on Sunday will take its winning run to seven straight, a feat not achieved by the Tigers since the early nineties.
Maffra V Leongatha
On Saturday all eyes will be on the Leongatha Recreation Reserve, where the competition’s top two will do battle, in what could be a preview of this year’s TRFM Gippsland League grand final.
When the Eagles and the Parrots met earlier this year, Leongatha held Maffra to its third lowest score in history against the Parrots.
However Leongatha has won two of its past three games against the Eagles, albeit by margins of just 17 and 13 points.
Drouin V Traralgon
Traralgon will be vying to consolidate third spot on the ladder when it travels to Drouin to take on the Hawks.
“Hopefully we can string another win together,” said Maroons coach Mark Collison after last week’s victory over Morwell.
Traralgon could be bolstered by the return of former coach Josh Jennings who will be given every chance to prove his fitness, following an extended absence due to a back injury.
“Drouin up there, it’s always a tough game. They’ll be looking to bounce back from a couple of recent losses, so we will have to be at our best,” Collison said.
Sitting just inside the five, the Hawks will be looking to claim a scalp in the top five. So far it’s only beaten one side above it on the ladder; Wonthaggi by a point.
However the odds are with the Maroons which have won their past six straight against Drouin by margins of more than 70-points.
Sale V Wonthaggi
Fresh from a big win over the ladder leader Leongatha, Wonthaggi will travel east to take on Sale.
The Magpies are coming off a disappointing loss to Morwell. However Sale has every reason to want to win after two disappointing losses to the Power in recent times, including last year’s preliminary final which saw the Power produce one of the best comebacks in Gippsland League history to secure a spot in the grand final.
Warragul V Bairnsdale
Warragul will be looking for its second win of the year when it hosts Bairnsdale.
However the Redlegs have had the upper hand in clashes with the Gulls since its 2011 return to the competition, winning eight of its past nine encounters with Warragul.
However Bairnsdale was lucky to take the points in their last match on ANZAC Day, with Warragul clawing its way back into the contest, only to fall 10-points short.
Last Modified on 10/07/2015 14:50
