A preview of the Meadows Greyhounds Division 1 qualifying and elimination final.
This weekend’s matches see West Preston-Lakeside and North Heidelberg meet in Saturday’s qualifying final at Preston City Oval, while Bundoora and Greensborough square off in Sunday’s die-or-die elimination final.
QUALIFYING FINAL – WEST PRESTON-LAKESIDE v NORTH HEIDELBERG
West Preston-Lakeside and North Heidelberg lock horns at Preston City Oval this Saturday in a qualifying final few would have forecast at the start of the year.
Despite the loss of Andrew Walker, Shaun Gannon and Mathew Stokes following last year’s elimination final exit – West Preston-Lakeside has been able to respond emphatically to secure its first top-three finish since winning the 2010 premiership.
North Heidelberg has created history to become the first reigning Division 2 premier to make the finals in the top flight. Having secured the double-chance the Bulldogs now have their eyes set on claiming what would be one of the more famous flags in league history.
Both sides enter the finals series in outstanding form and will be looking to carry the momentum built in the back half of the home and away season.
After sitting in sixth place after Round 12, West Preston-Lakeside has won its past six games by an average of 48 points. Among the Roosters scalps in the final third of the season are minor premier Macleod at De Winton Park and fifth-placed Greensborough.
A host of new faces have helped lift the Roosters up the table this year – many of which have had experience at VFL and Development League level.
Sam Glover has been arguably the pick of the bunch since joining from the Northern Blues. Michael Ercolano has featured among the best players in seven of 16 matches after spending much of 2017 with Coburg, while Ozgur Uysal and Mark Kovacevic loom as game-shapers in September.
West Preston-Lakeside has been defensively sound this season. They are yet to concede 100 points in a game and have coughed up an average of just 63 points a game.
Ahmed Saad again looms as one of the key players in his year’s finals. The 2017 leading goal kicker has booted 52 goals this year – finishing third on the goal kicking table despite missing seven games.
He was the match winner when West Preston-Lakeside downed the Bulldogs in Round 4 – booting nine goals as his side rallied from a six-goal deficit to win by 42 points.
North Heidelberg has claims to be the form side of the competition in the back half of the year, winning nine games on the trot before falling seven points short of Bundoora in Round 18 – just the club’s second defeat since Round 5.
The Bulldogs have no shortage of match winners– particularly through the midfield, where Brent Harvey, Liam Hunt and Jesse Tardio are thriving on the dominant season that ruckman Michael Florance has put together.
The Bulldogs forward line has again been spearheaded by Shane Harvey – who kicked his 900th club goal earlier this season. Harvey has kicked a competition-high 63 majors this year, including seven of 11 in the Round 11 win over the Roosters at J.E. Moore Park.
Jhye Baddeley-Kelly has produced a sensational first season in the top flight after crossing from Lalor – culminating in a Vic Metro call up in the 2018 AFL Victoria Community Cup.
The winner of this clash takes on Macleod in the second semi final – a match both would take confidence into, being the only two clubs to defeat the Roos in 2018.
ELIMINATION FINAL – BUNDOORA v GREENSBOROUGH
For the third year in succession Bundoora and Greensborough meet in a knockout final at Preston City Oval.
The past two instalments have seen the sides meet in the first semi final – where the ledger is all square at a win apiece. This year the rivals meet a week earlier, in the elimination final, after enduring contrasting seasons to get to this weekend’s fixture.
Bundoora’s premiership defence appeared in tatters early in the season as it struggled to combat a host of significant injuries to key players. The Bulls lost five of their opening seven matches and sat in ninth place on the ladder at Round 7.
Staring down the barrel of missing the finals for the first time since 2000, the Bulls have worked wonders to get their campaign back on track and now head into the finals in brilliant form – having won nine of their past 11 matches.
Importantly, Bundoora heads into September having beaten Greensborough, North Heidelberg and West Preston-Lakeside in their most recent outings – something which should inspire confidence in Ricky Dyson’s side.
With only three players managing to play all 18 home and away matches, the Bulls have not been able to rely as heavily on their top-end talent to guide them through to another finals campaign.
Dale Marshall has continued his development after featuring in last year’s premiership team, while Daniel Guccione and Fitzroy Stars recruits Kain Proctor and Peter Hood have produced solid campaigns.
Bundoora is getting key players back at the right time of the year. Andrew Sturgess and Josh Iacobaccio will be available for finals after Coburg’s VFL campaign came to an end, while Eamon Gilbert and Jack Furlong have joined the senior side in the past fortnight.
Greensborough has limped into the finals after looking the goods to secure a double-chance for much of the home and away season. The Boro sat in second place as recently as Round 15 but lost their final three games to slip to fifth spot.
Injuries have hit hard in recent weeks, with in-form co-captain Chris Clark, recruit Zak McCubbin and defender Adrian Cataldo all picking up season-ending injuries late in the year.
However, in a welcome boost, Lachlan McQuilken, Jason Rogers, Andrew Stellas and Brody Tickell should all be available this week after sitting out the final round loss at West Preston-Lakeside.
Scoring has dried up for the Boro over the past month – where they have averaged just 70 points a game. We know the Boro’s defence is as good as any – the query will be whether they can kick winning scores week after week during the finals series.
One player the Boro would love to have on the larger expanses of Preston City Oval is Box Hill-listed forward Billy Murphy.
The speedster booted 18 goals in 5 appearances this year and became an instant fan favourite. His unlikely to be unavailable this week, having played the past three matches with the finals-bound VFL Hawks.
While the Boro have lost their past three games, it is worth noting they led Bundoora for the opening three quarters just two weeks ago and held the lead entering time on against North Heidelberg the week prior.
