So we have only 2 games this week and the first is at Bellevue Oval in Armidale. The Nomads have been waiting for this return match against the Bulldogs after the Bulldogs smashed the Nomads by 89 points at the Kennel in round 5. That margin would suggest that the Bullies have it over the Nomads a bit but not so. The Nomads were undermanned on that day and will have a much stronger line up this week. The Bulldogs have been a huge improver all year and will certainly go into this game with a huge chance of making the break between 2nd and 3rd on the ladder 2 games. But at home with their backs against the wall we have seen what the Nomads can do, as evidenced by last week's win over the Kangaroos. The Bulldogs have had 5 straight wins at home, but last week's win over the Saints was their toughest game at home and it took all of confidence to get them home in the end. We will see this week how much that win drained them, but I bet they would have liked the bye to be this week not next week. The Nomads will need to be right on their game if they want to win this week. They had a welcome cameo appearance by ex Nomad Rich Malone last week, on a match permit, but he won't be there this week and that will hurt them. The biggest challenge that the Bulldogs will face is getting a full team to Armidale, which will put more pressure on their better players and their younger players. The first step in any game is getting your hands on the ball first at the stoppages. This is where both clubs have improved this year. For the Nomads their giant Botswanian ruckman Omphile Temoso has shown great strides in his first year of AFL footy. For the Bulldogs have been very impressed with young Sam Naismith's development and the efforts of Josh Edwards last week.
This game will be won by who can get their hands on the ball first and after discounting the Nomads last week at home I will not do that this week. Nomads by 23 points.
The second game this week is round 2 of the local derby between the two Tamworth teams. In the first encounter this year the Swans had a lot of pent up frustration from the previous few years and hit the ground running setting up a huge 10 goal lead at half time. Then they took the foot off the pedal a bit and the Kangaroos came home strong to eventually go down by just 15 points. This was the game that really woke the Swans up and they took it out on the rest of the competition. These two clubs this year decided to honour Country Energy Tamworth AFL stalwart Bill Holder by playing for the Billy Holder Cup. Bill has been a great contributor to local footy and volunteer for both clubs over many years. The Kangaroos will be keen to prevent the Swans from claiming the trophy just yet, they met again in the last round of season and if it is one all it will be the decider, and this will be what makes this game the match of the round. The Kangaroos last were undermanned when beaten by the Nomads but you can bet your bottom dollar that they will be putting their team on the ground this week. The Swans on the other hand had a confidence building return to form by thumping the Cats by 102 points. The Swans mid field has been very good at getting the ball first all year but it is their back line that has stood up and set up their wins, by playing rebounding football. Backlines have always been where premiership are built from and the Swans have the best backline this year. The next best backline is the Bulldogs but the Swans are still better than them by conceding 5 goals less. There is no doubt that the Kangaroos are still a formidable force when they put it all together, but for some reason this year they have struggled to get a consistent team on the ground each week. I think that 2 years at the top of the tree with the Saints, that saw both of these clubs a class above the rest, is starting to take its toll and both clubs seemed to have lost a bit of their hunger to win.
For that reason I am tipping the Swans to be hungrier and the inaugural winners of the Billy Holder Cup by 33 points.
Last Modified on 08/07/2009 10:47