Preliminary Final: Inverell Saints v Tamworth Kangaroos at Varley Oval Saturday 2pm
The penultimate weekend of the footy season sees the Saints hosting the Roos in the Prelim Final that many predicted. The teams finished second and third on the ladder at the end of the home and away season, and will face each other for the second time in two weeks. Last time, the Roos were last gasp winners and carry into this match a good win last week over the Cats. The Saints on the other hand have lost their last two, including a drubbing at the hands of the Nomads a week ago.
The Saints have been the benchmark in the TAFL over the past 7 years. They have contested every Grand Final since 2007, a TAFL record 6 consecutive appearances, and have made the Prelim or better the last 8 seasons. It is a pretty good record for a club that started in 2005, but this week face their toughest test since their early inception. Last week’s loss was the second biggest in their history and their lowest score ever. They have only been beaten by more than that once, ironically also in a final when smashed by the Swans in the 2006 Prelim. They love playing at Varley in front of their parochial home crowd, and knocked off the Roos in the Sapphire City in mid July. They will need to recapture that form this weekend, or face their first early finish of a season in quite some time. They will be praying some of their stars get through the obvious injury concerns they carried last week, and that the return of Mike Gould will inspire what was a an insipid forward line last week.
The Roos bound into this clash full of confidence. They eased off the pedal last weekend and still managed a worry free 6 goal win in the Minor Semi. The Roos have been somewhat forgotten in discussions over the past two seasons, and after winning the title in 2011 have fallen slightly behind the Nomads and Saints. They will be desperately keen to get back onto the biggest stage of all, and will fancy their chances of an upset with the form they are carrying into this clash. There’s plenty to be said about their damaging stars, with Matt Hodge again getting off the leash last weekend despite constant attention in the backline. He is no longer a secret weapon, but still teams cannot stop him in the forward 50. However, the biggest strength of all for this side could be their half back line. Alex Hudson, Luke Robinson and Dan Gimbert have had huge years rebounding across the defence and propelling the Sherrin forward. These three players hold the key to a successful attacking raid for the Roos and shutting them down may well be priority number one for the Saints.
It is very tough to draw a form line through these clubs. Both were massively understrength a fortnight ago in a match that meant nothing to the final standings. Following a Roos forfeit in Round 3, the Saints have the only win that meant anything between the clubs in Round 13. However, one has to wonder what last week’s result has done to the Saints mentally and how well they respond this week will be biggest question of all.
TAFL Tipster – So many variables in this clash. The Saints at home are always so tough to beat, but you have to wonder how much last week took out of them. I’m tipping the Roos, by 5 points.
Last Modified on 22/08/2013 09:36