Big Weekend Ahead - Round 12 Previews

Get set for a big weekend ahead as we head into Round 12 in the MCDFNL 

FOOTBALL

Maryborough Rovers v Harcourt

Rovers are coming off what could be called a surprise victory over Newstead last round, and they will now be facing the undefeated Harcourt Lions who have taken all before them as the season has progressed.

While it was a very impressive victory against Newstead, the Rovers will need to be at their very best when they take on the competitions reigning premiers.

It is very hard to see them trouble the Lions, but the fact that they have won four games for the season has been a very impressive improvement from their winless season in 2022.

Harcourt are a very impressive unit led by Brayden Frost in the ruck and they are strong across all lines and the inclusion of Kalan Huntly from the Port Douglas Crocs this season has just bolstered their attack out of the middle.

2022 Premiership Coach, Alex Code has gone forward and has kicked twenty-one goals in the last three games, so the Rovers defenders will have their work cut out keeping Code quite on Saturday

Code may not have a coaching role in 2023, but he is still a natural leader and the players around him are strengthened by his presence.

The Lions should still be undefeated after Saturday and should win comfortably.

Trentham v Newstead

Trentham will host Newstead who were very disappointing in the first half at home against Rovers last Saturday, but the Steaders did outplay Rovers on the scoreboard in the second half, but it was not enough to get the victory.

Trentham are also coming off a loss after they let the Redbacks finish over the the top of them in the final term, and they will be eager to get back on the winning list after their second loss of the season.

 Joel Cowan is having a stellar season for the Saints having been in the best players in every game of the season so far, and will no doubt be one of the favourites for the Berry Powell Medal which he previously won in season 2019.

Newstead Coach Joel Smith is also having a stellar season appearing in the best players in eight of his eleven games to date and it will be a great contest between these two inspiring players.

The Saints should have the firepower to notch up another victory as they look to post that elusive premiership that has evaded them since 1994.

Campbells Creek v Avoca

Avoca will relish the challenge of playing against Campbells Creek this week after the Bulldogs posted their first victory for the 2023 season against Royal Park last Saturday.

Avoca seems to be hitting their straps as the season has progressed and have found some good form in the past three weeks culminating in their strong 43-point victory last round.

Campbells Creek are having another tough season, but showed in the second quarter against Lexton what they are capable off when they put their minds to it and will relish the opportunity to post their first taste of victory for the season against the Bulldogs on Saturday.

The formline indicates that it will be a tough ask for the Creekers though and it is expected that Avoca will post their second victory in succession as they look to finish the season off strongly in the final rounds of the home and away season.

DUNOLLY V LEXTON

Put simply, it’s a big game for both Dunolly and Lexton on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles currently sit eighth, and the Tigers sit 10th. Percentage separates them. Down the road, ninth-placed Talbot plays Carisbrook, and seventh-placed Maldon plays Navarre. A win here, then, gives whoever takes it pole position to secure their spot in the finals.

Dunolly come off a loss to Harcourt. It was a bit of a slower start for the Eagles last week, but they will at least be pleased with their intensity to finish off the game, kicking four goals and dominating large parts of the final quarter to reduce the margin from 54 points to 37.

Meantime, Lexton come into this one with a much-needed victory against Campbells Creek. While they’ll be disappointed to have only converted 19 goals from 39 scoring shots, as well as allowing the Magpies to kick five goals, a win is a win regardless, and were able to gain some percentage, which could yet prove crucial in the business end of the season.

The season series in 2022 was split at one apiece last season, with Dunolly taking a memorable five-point win against the Tigers at home in round two — their first win in years — before Lexton turned the tables in round 15 to take a 23-point win.

With plenty to play for, expect this one to go right down to the wire.

ROYAL PARK V NATTE BEALIBA

Natte Bealiba travel to Hedges Oval knowing they’ll need to be perfect over the last five rounds to get back into the top four.

The Swans suffered a blow to those top four aspirations last week when they were never really able to get on top of Navarre until the last quarter, by which point, the game had slipped too far away from them on what was a slippery surface at home.

Scoring continues to be a bit of an issue for the Swans, having scored 32 points from just seven scoring shots last week — but they’ll look to rectify that issue this week against the Tigers, who rank 13th in points against.

The Swans had no such issue last season in their two meetings with Royal Park, averaging a touch over 163 points per game in those two meetings.

Royal Park will have been disappointed with the manner of their collapse after leading at half time last week. Having led until the midway stages of the third quarter, the Tigers went scoreless in the last term, while Avoca kicked four goals to turn a 15-point lead into a comfortable 44-point win.

However, the Tigers are putting in more representative performances with a stronger 22 at the moment, and have been largely competitive since round four, particularly in the goalscoring department, with Jacob Rollason kicking 22 goals from nine games to lead the way.

TALBOT V CARISBROOK

Carisbrook survived an acid test last week against Trentham for the right to earn second spot, and now face a different kind of test, with Talbot looking to regain their spot in the top eight.

The manner of Carisbrook’s victory was quite impressive. With Trentham asking many questions during the third quarter, and hitting the front, one could be excused for thinking that the Saints had all the momentum, but to the Redbacks’ credit, they reset at three-

quarter-time, and eventually took an eight-point win in inspirational leader Nick Wright’s 200th game.

In contrast, Talbot were unable to provide a contest to Maldon last week after quarter time, with the Hawks going down by 46 points.

As it stands, the Hawks are out of the eight by 0.7 per cent, and with games against Trentham, Newstead and Navarre to follow for the Hawks, all of a sudden, making finals could be an uphill battle.

The Hawks will have to improve on their last two games against the Redbacks, losing by 89 and 85 points in 2022.

For the Redbacks, all eyes will be on Anthony Zelencich to see what he can muster in his quest for 100 goals, as he currently sits on 68.

It should be an intriguing battle at both ends, with Talbot spearhead Matthew Bond also in the top five goalkickers in the competition.

A GRADE NETBALL

ROVERS V HARCOURT

Put simply, this is an enormous game for both Rovers and Harcourt, with their path to a potential finals appearance perhaps defined by whatever happens on Saturday.

For Rovers, a sixth win in seven games is on offer if they can defeat Harcourt, and a similar luxury is afforded to the Lions if they can defeat Rovers.

Rovers had a solid 14-goal victory over Newstead last week, which was an indication of what they’re all about. Eighteen goals in the last quarter helped them in their quest to take victory, with that result, they have now become the fifth-best offensive team in the competition, adding to their legitimacy as a finals threat.

Harcourt, meantime, continue to be a handy defensive team. Although they survived a scare last week against an Eagles team who were still looking for a chance to finish in the top four, they did well to restrict them to 26 goals in the first three quarters.

The Lions proved too strong in their two meetings last year, taking a 27-goal victory in round two, before easing to a 20-goal win in the return leg in round 15.

But with both clubs now playing for much higher stakes on Saturday, expect this one to go right down to the wire.

DUNOLLY V LEXTON

Lexton are currently in pole position for the final spot in the top four, sitting a game and significant percentage ahead of the Eagles in fifth.

A win on Saturday would mean that gap is extended to two games and percentage, which would mean that the Tigers can afford to win two more games in the final four rounds to secure that coveted top four spot if successful.

But Dunolly aren’t an easy task, that’s for sure. If they aren’t winners, they have certainly been very close in a large majority of their games.

Of their four losses, two have come by two goals, with their effort against Harcourt last week seeing them storm home from 10 goals down to almost pinch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Lexton’s performance last week was noteworthy, putting 83 goals on Campbells Creek — the equal-highest tally of the season so far, matching Natte Bealiba’s tally against Newstead in round six.

If anything else, it certainly shows that the Tigers’ offensive unit matches anyone else in the top four on their best day.

Having scored 111 goals in their two meetings with Dunolly last season, and conceding just 46, they will look to provide similar numbers on Saturday, albeit with an Eagles team that has changed drastically since the end of 2022.

ROYAL PARK V NATTE BEALIBA

Sitting three games outside the top eight, and with a meeting against the reigning premiers to come, it appears finals is a bridge too far for Bushy in their final season.

Natte aren’t in a particularly giving mood at the best of times either — just ask Navarre, who were fighting to stay in the top eight last week, who lost by 35 goals, having put up nine goals in the first half.

The challenge for the Tigers is to keep themselves in the game early on, then maintaining it. They were able to compete hard in the first quarter of their game against Avoca last week, sitting just five goals down at quarter time, before the Bulldogs blew them away from the second quarter onwards, taking a 35-goal victory.

Stopping the Swans’ offense is one of the biggest challenges in the competition at the moment, and with another 64 goals last week, it meant that the Swans had passed 50 goals in nine of 11 games this season, and 60 in seven.

Natte scored 72 in their last meeting with Royal Park in round 15 in 2022, and were able to take a 36-goal win — one of two victories that were achieved by over 30 goals last season.

CAMPBELLS CREEK V AVOCA

Avoca are still in the frame for a minor premiership if both Carisbrook and Natte Bealiba slip up, and will look to have their offensive game on full display this weekend when they travel to Campbells Creek.

The Bulldogs are now entrenched as the second best attacking team in the competition, and will look to increase that against the Magpies, who rank last in defence.

Spare a thought for the Magpies, who played hard for a large majority of the first three quarters against Lexton, but were unable to stop the Tigers from firing on all cylinders last week, eventually conceding 83 goals.

That loss was their 10th in a row, a bit unlucky when you consider they have, for the large part, been reasonably competitive.

Unfortunately, their task doesn’t get any easier against an Avoca team that is fresh off scoring a 35-goal win against Royal Park.

Recent history is against the Magpies too, with the club losing both their meetings to the Bulldogs in 2022 by 40 and 36 goals respectively, with Avoca scoring an average of 77 goals in those games.

TALBOT V CARISBROOK

It’s top against bottom this week, with Carisbrook looking to make it 12 games unbeaten, while Talbot are looking to move off the bottom.

This week was the first time since round three that the Hawks had found themselves rooted to the bottom of the table, that coming as a result of a 26-goal loss to the previously winless Maldon.

Unfortunately, a slow start was Talbot’s undoing, and they were unable to get back into the game from there.

Since their round four win against Campbells Creek, the Hawks have had it a bit tough, and haven’t come within 15 goals of any team.

That doesn’t look likely to change against a Carisbrook team who have been renowned for being the best defensive team in the competition this season.

Against Trentham last week, the Redbacks showed no mercy, conceding just 19 goals — the seventh time they have conceded 29 goals or fewer in season 2023, which has included four top eight teams in those scalps.

With Talbot coming in to this game as the lowest scoring team by about 65 goals, they’ll be hard-pressed to put a significant score on the board.

Carisbrook won both 2022 meetings by 49 and 38 goals respectively, and will be looking to repeat those results this weekend.

TRENTHAM V NEWSTEAD

An intriguing game sees Trentham host Newstead this week, with the Saints desperately trying to hold on to their spot in the top eight.

The Saints are currently just one game inside the top eight, but with an inferior percentage to Navarre, and with the Hoppers hosting 12th-placed Maldon, a victory against the 11th-placed Kangaroos is vital.

But to do that, they’ll have to improve markedly on their scoring output from recent weeks. They were just able to put 19 goals past Carisbrook last week, and as a result, they now currently sit 13th for offense — quite a statistic when you consider they currently occupy a finals spot.

They may be forced to put a score on the board against the Kangaroos, who are just one goal away from the Hoppers in terms of being the best scoring team outside the top eight, but there is also the caveat of conceding the second-most goals in the competition.

Last week’s loss to Maryborough Rovers was a microcosm of their season. While they had no problems scoring, putting up 42 goals, they were unable to disrupt the rhythm of Rovers, who scored 56 goals, including 18 in the last quarter.

Trentham took a win in their last meeting by 12 goals in round 15, while their round two clash ended in a draw.

NAVARRE V MALDON

Navarre lost their spot in the top eight last week, and will be determined to win it back when they host Maldon, who are fresh off their first victory of 2023.

The Dons’ win was a culmination of what has been a competitive period for the club, having lost games against Avoca by 18 goals, Natte Bealiba by 10 and Newstead by three goals, which certainly suggested that a win was around the corner.

Against Talbot, they delivered, utilising a fast start to get the jump on the Hawks, before controlling the game from there.

They will be looking for much of the same against Navarre this week, who will be looking to avoid Maldon getting the jump after seeing Natte put 30 goals on them in the first half to streak away to a 21-goal lead at the main change.

The Hoppers are currently part of a four-team logjam which are separated by just one game at the moment, and it appears that only three of those teams can finish inside the top eight, with no one behind the Hoppers seeming to pose a legitimate threat.

And with Maryborough Rovers playing Harcourt, as well as Trentham playing against Newstead, they’ll give themselves an opportunity to perhaps move up the ladder with a win here.

The two teams split their two meetings last season, with Navarre taking a seven-goal win in round two, before Maldon scored a 15-goal win in round 15.\