Grand Final berths will be on the line when the Box Hill Hawks meet Sandringham and Williamstown faces Essendon in Preliminary Finals this weekend.
Box Hill Hawks vs Sandringham
Saturday September 19, 2.40pm, North Port Oval
Sandringham has one sure way of keeping the ball out of the hands of the league’s no.1-ranked team for kicks, marks and goals per game. The Zebras must win the ball in tight and pump it into their own forward line quickly.
They weren’t able to do this in Round 6 at Trevor Barker Beach Oval, as James Sicily’s five goals helped Box Hill record a 23-point victory. Winning at the contests was something the likes of Clint Jones, Tom Curren and Josh Saunders excelled at for the most part in 2015 though, with Sandringham averaging seven more clearances and three more contested possessions per game than the Hawks during the home-and-away rounds.
Much rests on the sizeable shoulders of Zebras ruckmen Jason Holmes and Lewis Pierce as they attempt to shade the likely Hawks combination of Jonathon Ceglar and Marc Pittonet to provide first use of the ball.
Getting it into potential match-winners up forward such as Trent Dennis-Lane (five goals against Collingwood last week) as quickly as possible might be the best chance Sandringham has of matching it with such a potent opposition. But with Box Hill’s midfield boasting names such as Jonathan Simpkin, Sam Iles and Jono O’Rourke, that’ll be easier said than done.
Williamstown vs Essendon
Sunday September 20, 2.40pm, North Port Oval
This clash should be a midfield battle royal, as the Seagulls and Bombers are the league’s no.1 and no.2-ranked teams respectively for contested possessions per game. The battle might just hinge on a monster match-up between ruckmen Nick Meese and Shaun McKernan, who are both in superb form.
Williamstown’s Meese had an enormous influence in the Qualifying Final win against Sandringham with his 45 hitouts helping establish a clear clearance advantage for Ben Jolley, Adam Marcon and Michael Gibbons. His work once the ball hit the ground was a feature too, which is something he’ll need to repeat against mobile Essendon big man McKernan, who was everywhere in the big Semi Final victory over Footscray.
Midfielders James Polkinghorne, Dan Coghlan and Elliott Kavanagh had a field day against the Bulldogs, and will need to be at their best to combat Meese and provide opportunities to the classy Kyle Hardingham (three goals last week) and Jacob Thompson (two) up forward.
Williamstown will be hoping for a repeat of the teams’ Round 12 clash at Burbank Oval when the Seagulls slotted 20 goals in a 44-point triumph, but Bomber midfield dominance means dangerous Seagull forwards such as Sam Dunell, Andrew Gallucci and Scott Clouston will be starved of chances to impact the scoreboard.
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Last Modified on 17/09/2015 18:44
