WEEKEND PREVIEW

by Matt Fotia 

We’re back in the routine now with every club having played their first game in anger and after a weekend which saw our sugar levels rise from excess chocolate we can finally look forward to round two of the Outer East season.

Upwey Tecoma take on Olinda Ferny Creek in the Totally Workwear Berwick and Knoxfield  Premier Division with the Tigers looking to grab their second win of the season after they defeated Healesville by a comfortable 59 point margin in round one.

Daniel Waters did Daniel Waters things and finished with five goals for the afternoon whilst Tom Robinson starred with three majors in a best on ground performance. The Tigers won every quarter against Healesville and their overall performance will have bought a smile to senior coach David Bell’s face.

Whilst the Tigers weren’t and probably still aren’t expected to contest in finals by many this season momentum is a funny thing (just look at St Kilda). A win against another red and white side and the Tigers will be 2-0 and will have a couple more climbing onto the bandwagon.

Olinda need a win to steady the ship. Whilst it’s not panic stations for them, Brendan Donovan’s men will no doubt be embarrassed by their first quarter effort against Narre Warren where they shipped nine goals to trail the Magpies by 51 points at the first break. Marcus Hottes continued his ever-green existence in the best players but he will need some assistance to take on an improved Tigers midfield.

As much as it is a long season, 0-2 is a tough spot to be in for anyone and as much as momentum can help take a side to higher than originally predicted, it can also drag another down below their expectations (just look at Melbourne).

Beaconsfield Netball clubs will be cock-a-hoop after knocking off last years SEFNL A Grade Grand Finalists Cranbourne by 18 goals in round one. Bianca Sanzaro shot 22 goals in a strong performance but it was the defensive game of Danielle Cameron that ensured Beacy won the battle of the Eagles as she dominated  in Goal Defence as they kept Cranbourne to just 20 goals after quarter time, netting 43 themselves in that time frame.

They take on Narre Warren who will be struggling to know where they sit this season after a comfortable win over Berwick in round ‘nine’ and a 30 goal loss to Olinda Ferny Creek in round one. They saw 71 goals scored against them in that loss and will be out to ensure that doesn’t happen again. Chloe Phillips and Tamika De Nardis will have to combine strongly this weekend if they’re to defeat Beaconsfield.

After two contrasting wins in the first round of the Hallam and Bayswater Truck Centre Division One Mount Evelyn and Monbulk will ready themselves for battle this Saturday in what is an early showdown between two genuine flag aspirants.

The Rovers were able to inflict some second half misery on Warburton Millgrove in round one when they kept the Burras to just two goals in the second half in a pleasing start to 2019 for coach Mark Fisher. Andrew Chalkley started the season well snagging three goals and finding himself in the Rovers best, following on from his strong 2018 which saw him kick 20 majors.

Speaking of last year Monbulk will take confidence from the last time these two sides met where they ran out 31 point winners as Shane Williams put in a complete performance kicking one goal and running away best afield.

Vice Captain Dylan Werts played well in that game last season and started this season red hot racking up a fair bit of ball in the Hawks scrappy win over Belgrave. Expect the Hawks to improve in coming weeks as a number of talented players were running through the reserves due to a number of different reasons.

Mount Evelyn deserve to be early favourites but this clash has a lot riding on it considering the Hawks took the chocolates both times in 2018 and you don’t want your bogey team to be a likely finals foe.

For the Pakenham Lions Netball club opportunity has also presented itself in 2019. After a tough 2018 the Lions rebuild looks to have taken a big step with a 27 goal win over Emerald. Mia Palmer was ultra impressive netting 23 goals and combined well with Kyra Esler (24). Whilst they will have no doubt enjoyed a successful weekend against the Bombers, they’ll know if they’re to contend for the premiership they’ll need to beat more than the likes of Emerald.

Anzac Day provides them with a chance to make a statement right off the bat when they face ROC. ROC missed finals last season by just two points despite having a better percentage than eventual fifth place getters Doveton, who they easily accounted for on Good Friday by 15 goals after they jumped out to a nine goal lead in the first.

Yarra Junction and Gembrook-Cockatoo do battle in a massive ATC Traffic Division Two clash this Saturday in what could become a more important game in a few weeks time.

Both sides experienced upset losses in Round One when Powelltown and Kinglake accounted for them respectively. For the Brookers they will take solace in the fact the young Myles Wareham performed well kicking three goals in his first season out of under age football. Wareham played seven senior games last season and is one of the youngsters that have been spoken about so heavily this off-season for Gembrook-Cockatoo.

They were shut out completely in the third quarter by the Lakers and only had five goal kickers for the afternoon which saw them generate just 17 scores (10.7).

Yarra Junction played a game of two halves against Powelltown with both sides failing to boot more than 30 points before halftime (28-23) before kicking 21 goals between them in the second half. The Eagles allowed Powelltown to have 10 different goal kickers with five of them managing to kick multiples (Lord, Miller, Stokes, McCrimmon and Roy).

Positives for Junction were the performances of new recruit David Johnson who booted four goals on his debut and Brad Clark who began 2019 as he finished 2019 – in his sides best players alongside Sam Cannon and Ewan Wadsworth.

Much like Olinda Ferny Creek in the Premier Division, being 0-2 does not rule you out of finals contention, but for two sides with massive expectations in 2019 it’s not somewhere they’d want to be.

Round four sees Gembrook-Cockatoo take on the Eagle slayers Powelltown whilst Yarra Junction face Seville in round five meaning the loser of Saturday’s game might not necessarily be behind the eight ball by the end of round two, but they could be by the end of round five.

Netball wise it’s another Anzac special this time with Kinglake hosting Yea in the grand final rematch from last season which the Tigers won by just one goal. Kinglake have added to their impressive 2018 list with goal-shooter Biljana Cvijetic coming on board in a playing assistant coach role. She started fairly well with 43 goals in the Lakers big win over Gembrook-Cockatoo.

Yea of course have plenty of shooting firepower with Nikki Watts and Melissa Martinov owning the goal circle for the Tigers. Martinov finished with 42 in the Tigers surprisingly easy win over Seville in round one and Wing Defence Amy Taylor starred through the mid court.

With this game likely to be a shoot out once again the Tigers defence of Caitlin Ryan and Alice Waack will yet again need to be on their game if the Tigers are to repeat last seasons heroics.