vfl.com.au previews Week 1 of the Peter Jackson VFL Legendairy Finals Series.
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1st QUALIFYING FINAL
Casey Scorpions (1st) vs Footscray (4th)
Saturday September 3, 2.00pm, Casey Fields
The Scorpions enter this clash having lost their last 11 finals – including four straight-sets exits – since winning an elimination final in 2008. Adding to nerves will be the fact the club’s four losses in 2016 have come at the hands of the teams placed second to fifth, including a defeat to Footscray in Round 15 at VU Whitten Oval. That day, the Bulldogs came from 30 points down at the last break with a strong wind to pip Casey by a point. They conceded plenty of possession to their opponents but laid 36 more tackles to keep prolific Scorpions Alex Neal-Bullen, Jack Trengove and Viv Michie panicked.
Casey loves to handball through traffic and sweep the ball forward to goalkickers Liam Hulett, Tim Smith and Sam Weideman, and the Bulldogs will again need pressure kings like Mitch Honeychurch, Liam Nash and Jordan Russell to bring the heat. On the other side of the ball, Footscray has struggled with conversion in attack this year and will need to manufacture goals from a mobile forward group containing mid-sized options such as Bailey Dale, Nick Jamieson and Mitch Hannan (pictured, left).
2nd QUALIFYING FINAL
Collingwood (2nd) vs Williamstown (3rd)
Saturday September 3, 2.00pm, IKON Park
The big birds of the competition will be preparing for a battle royal at the contests in this one. The Magpies and Seagulls are in the VFL’s upper echelon for contested possessions and clearances per game, with Williamstown’s midfield brigade of captain Ben Jolley, Michael Gibbons and Willie Wheeler – served by dominant ruckman Nick Meese – part of the league’s no.1 team in those departments. In the teams’ only meeting of 2016 in Round 7, Collingwood effectively matched the Seagulls in the contests and walked away with a five-point triumph at the Holden Centre. Skipper Jack Hellier, along with AFL-listers Brent Macaffer, Matthew Goodyear and ruckman Jarrod Witts, broke even with Williamstown’s star quartet and helped Travis Cloke boot four goals.
Cloke will be absent this week though, and the Magpies will need to find scoreboard contributions from unheralded forwards like Gus Borthwick, Jordan Collopy and Lachlan Ferguson to counter the potency of Williamstown goalkickers such as Dylan Conway, Ayce Cordy and Sam Dunell (pictured, second from left). Last week’s return from serious injury of Collingwood tall forward Michael Still will help, but his opportunities will depend on what happens in the middle.
1st ELIMINATION FINAL
Geelong (5th) vs Essendon (8th)
Saturday September 3, 2.40pm, North Port Oval
The Cats will take heart from when they last met Essendon in Round 16 and won by 78 points at Simonds Stadium. Geelong recorded 28 more scoring shots that day as prolific AFL-listers Darcy Lang, George Horlin-Smith and James Parsons ran amok. But earlier in their Jekyll-and-Hyde season, the Bombers prevailed by 21 points in Round 5 at Windy Hill, with Mark Jamar dominating in the ruck and giving Will Hams and Jackson Merrett first use of the ball.
The midfield battle will be an intriguing aspect of this game as well, given both teams rank behind every other top-eight side in terms of contested possessions, clearances and tackles per game. Developing Irishman Padraig Lucey will need to counter Jamar’s influence in the ruck and provide Cats hard-nuts such as Tom Atkins, Sam McLachlan and James Tsitas with opportunities to get the ball out in space, where their team has become no.1 in the VFL for disposal efficiency. Essendon has to aim to shut down Geelong’s slick ball movement – or better, have the likes of captain Dan Coghlan, Aaron Heppell and Nash Holmes (pictured, second from right) win the ball first and then play keepings-off.
2nd ELIMINATION FINAL
Port Melbourne (6th) vs Sandringham (7th)
Sunday September 4, 2.40pm, North Port Oval
This match will be a contrast in styles between two teams currently lacking their best form. Port has lost to contenders Williamstown, Collingwood and Geelong in its last five games, while the Zebras have dropped six of their last seven. The first of those losses was to the Borough by 22 points at Trevor Barker Beach Oval in Round 15 when Port shocked Sandringham with a nine-goal-to-two first quarter. The Borough had a clear edge in the middle that day, dominating contested possessions and clearances on the back of hard-nuts Tom O’Sullivan, Toby Pinwill and Matt Arnot.
The Zebras have the likes of Myke Cook and Kade Answerth to provide resistance at the coalface, but their strength instead lies in the ability of players such as Eli Templeton and Elliot Le Grice (pictured, right) to regularly hit targets by foot and set up easy shots on goal for their forwards. Meanwhile, the Borough’s disposal efficiency ranks second-last in the VFL, highlighting the importance of the skilful Damian Mascitti. His teammates can sure win the ball, but can they then use it to good effect?
Last Modified on 02/09/2016 09:42
