The 2021 season has already produced several matches that will live in folklore and Round 7 has the potential to add several more to the collection.
Most who attended the grand final rematch between Greensborough and West Preston-Lakeside would have left the Round 2 encounter at War Memorial Park confident they had witnessed the game of the season.
That match was followed by several other classics over the proceeding fortnight, including a three-point classic between Greensborough and Montmorency under lights in Round 3 and an epic battle between Heidelberg and West Preston-Lakeside in Round 5.
But perhaps the pick of the bunch took place last week, with the match between ladder-leaders North Heidelberg and Bundoora going down to the wire, with the Bulldogs prevailing by four points – only after a tight miss after the final siren by Bundoora star Sam Lloyd.
The big games keep rolling in, with the Round 7 action headlined by a massive clash between Greensborough and North Heidelberg at Greensborough War Memorial Park.
The sides have produced several memorable matches since the Bulldogs returned to first division flight in 2018 and this week’s encounter again has plenty at stake, with the winner to take a monumental step forward in their bid for a top-three finish.
Both sides enter the clash with 5-1 records, with the Boro sitting second with a percentage of 155.56, a tick over 15 percent above the Bulldogs – who remarkably slipped from first spot to third despite winning last week’s top-of-the-table clash against Bundoora.
Greensborough has won its past three matches by an average margin of 45 points, however all three victories have come against opponents placed outside the top five.
In fact, the Boro have met just one side currently placed inside the top-five to Round 6, with this week’s match against the Bulldogs the first of four-successive matches against teams presently placed in the top half of the ladder.
The Boro’s best players all enter this week’s game in good touch, with Nick Riddle, Jack Johnston and Tom Bell all influential in last week’s triumph over Northcote Park, while Nathan Hrovat returned after missing the previous two games.
Jake McNamara missed last week’s win at Bill Lawry Oval and if he is again unavailable this week, the job of taking on Anthony Daw in the ruck will be shared by young Rayden Garrard and in-form utility Thomas Brindley.
The ruck battle will likely play a major role in determining this week’s result, with both sides possessing midfields capable of breaking the game wide open if they get good service at the stoppages.
North Heidelberg’s midfield will likely be bolstered by the inclusion of Brent Harvey, who has missed the past two matches on North Melbourne duties, while up forward Shane Harvey looks set for a big one after being limited to just two goals over the past three weeks.
Braidyn Hirt now looms as a threat inside the attacking half for the Bulldogs after a breakout performance last week, where he jagged three majors, while Doug Morris showed signs he is capable of returning to his absolute best after an impressive showing against the Bulls.
Greensborough has won four of the past five matches between the two sides, with includes a 98-point drubbing in the 2019 second semi final – a result which proved to be an outlier in recent showings, with three of the previous four games between the Boro and Bulldogs decided by two goals or less.
Macleod’s new-found form will be put to the ultimate test when it makes the trip to J.E. Moore Park to take on West Preston-Lakeside.
Winless during the opening month of the campaign, the Roos now sit seventh on the ladder and are just one win and percentage outside the top-five on the back of consecutive wins over the past fortnight.
However, to keep their winning streak going they will have to beat the two-time reigning premier on its home ground – an imposing task given the Roosters have won the past six games at the venue by an average of seven goals.
During that period visiting sides have averaged fewer than 50 points per game. Macleod hasn’t been a prolific scoring side in 2021 – ranked sixth in points for, at an average of 72 points a game. Therefore, the Roos will have to take their chances when they present on Saturday.
Christian Stagliano’s side showed what it is capable of during the second term of last week’s win over Whittlesea, where it piled on 5.6 to two behinds to establish a decisive break at half time – having conceded three of the first four goals of the game.
Reid Brandt returned from a one-week layoff to produce his best showing of the season in last week’s win over the Eagles and looms as one of the Roos’ key weapons in breaking through the Roosters’ strong defence.
Lucas Hobbs, Hamish Paynter and Brad Leggett were all missing from last week’s line-up, which will give Macleod confidence it will only get stronger when it gets its best side on the park.
While the Roos have key players waiting to return, they will have to contend with the return of West Preston-Lakeside superstar Ahmed Saad, who makes his way back into the Roosters’ line-up following a two-week suspension.
Despite Saad’s absence, the Roosters enter this week in ominous touch after recording their biggest score of the season in a 68-point thrashing of Hurstbridge at Ben Frilay Oval – with the percentage boost taking the two-time reigning premiers to the top of the ladder for the first time since Round 1, 2018.
Jaylon Thorpe booted a season-best five goals and now has nine majors in four appearances this year. His partnership with Saad inside 50m looms as a being a joy to watch for Roosters fans – if the coaching staff do opt to play the two stars alongside each other deep in attack.
Alex Federico was back to his best last week, while Michael Ercolano remains a model of consistency and has featured among the Coaches MVP Award votes in each of the past three matches.
As well as 2021 form, the recent head-to-head results favour West Preston-Lakeside, with the Roosters triumphant in the past four matches between the sides – which includes the 2018 premiership decider.
Montmorency will be chasing consecutive wins for the first time this season when it makes the trip to the Whittlesea Showgrounds to take on Whittlesea.
The Magpies are back within percentage of the top-five following last week’s vital win over Heidelberg – their second win against a top-five opponent this season, which gave another clear indication that their best football is up there with the strongest sides in the league.
The result was not only vital in that it kept Montmorency within touching distance of a finals place, but it will also do wonders for the confidence levels of the playing group – with the Magpies booting the final three goals to win by 13 points.
Having been overrun in the final term of their previous two defeats against Macleod and North Heidelberg, a third-successive fadeout loss would have been dejecting, so the manner in which the win occurred was just as vital as the result itself.
With matches against sides placed ninth and tenth on the ladder over the next fortnight, the Magpies have the opportunity to jump inside the top five approaching the Queen’s Birthday weekend break.
Bronson Hill is entering just his third senior game this weekend, however he looms as one of this game’s most important players after booting a bag of four goals for the second game in a row.
Meanwhile, Jai Robinson returns to his former home ground in great touch after a standout game last week. The representative defender has been among the Magpies best players in each of their wins this season and is one of the keys to this week’s game.
Despite languishing in ninth place on the ladder, Whittlesea has produced a solid month of football since its big loss at Bundoora and is playing much better football than its ladder position indicates.
The Eagles defeated North Heidelberg in their most recent home game – what has proven to be the Bulldogs’ only defeat to this point of the year – and have lost the two games either side of that win by less than three goals away from home.
Last week’s defeat at Macleod would hurt more than any of the five defeats the club has suffered this year – with the Eagles winning three of four quarters at De Winton Park, but made to pay for a 30-minute lapse either side of quarter time, when they conceded seven unanswered goals.
Heidelberg and Northcote Park will both be out to end losing streaks in their encounter at Warringal Park.
The Tigers’ losing run extended to three matches following last week’s close miss at Montmorency, while Northcote Park is still yet to open its account in 2021 after proving no match for Greensborough.
Footy can be a cruel game, as Heidelberg can attest to. The Tigers looked headed for a 4-0 start to the year when they led Bundoora by 33 points during the opening half of their Round 4 clash at Yulong Reserve, before three injuries in quick succession halted the Tigers charge.
They now hold onto fifth place by percentage alone and simply must get back on the winners’ list this week ahead matches against Greensborough and North Heidelberg over the next fortnight.
After averaging 99 points a game across the opening three rounds of the season, Heidelberg’s scoring has certainly dried up in recent weeks. The Tigers have managed just 184 points across their past three games, with a highest score of 69.
It’s an issue which has plagued Northcote Park throughout the entire campaign, with the Cougars’ highest score of the season just 55 points – which it managed in both the Round 5 defeat to Bundoora and the Round 2 loss to North Heidelberg.
The Cougars have recorded just 40 goals across the opening six rounds, which includes only three in last week’s 68-point loss to Greensborough. Michael Amad managed two of those three and tops the club’s goal kicking with eight majors.
Stephen Saddington’s side continues to be cruelled by injuries and a change in fortune is both rightly deserved and needed in order for the club to fight its way back up the ladder.
Among those missing last week were Paul Dirago, Bronik Davies, Matthew Perry, Kyle Galloway, Brock McLennan, Luke Svarc, Lachlan King, Matthew Grocott, Trohne Ugle and Ricky Fandrich – with the Cougars understandably unable to cover talent of that ilk.
Bundoora will be looking to maintain its perfect home record in 2021 when it hosts Hurstbridge at Yulong Reserve.
The Bulls were one straight kick away from sitting a game clear in third place, but now find themselves in fourth spot after having their four-game winning streak ended by last week’s four-point defeat to North Heidelberg.
Despite the loss, the performance confirmed that the Bulls are well and truly back among the competition’s elite this year and they will start a warm favourite this weekend in their pursuit of a 5-2 start to the season.
Even with Hamish Shepheard, Daniel Younan and Jai Burns all coming out of the previous week’s side, the Bulls matched it with North Heidelberg all day – thanks in large to a standout performance by Jackson Davies and strong showings from fellow young guns Isaac McMillan and Bailey Thompson.
This week they come up against a Hurstbridge side which has struggled to contain the best sides in the competition – with the Bridges last week no match for West Preston-Lakeside at Ben Frilay Oval.
The 68-point defeat was the Bridges third loss by greater than 10 goals this year, with their average losing margin of 65 points. By contrast, bottom-placed Northcote Park has lost its opening six matches at the far lower average of 42 points.
In particular it has been slow starts which have proven costly for Hurstbridge this year, with the Bridges conceding an average of 57 points in the opening half of games in 2021 – the most of any side in the competition.
Despite this being a very different looking Bundoora side than the one which faded out of the 2019 season, Hurstbridge will take some comfort out of the fact that it was victorious in its last trip to Yulong Reserve, in what was its historic first-ever win against the Bulls.
That was followed by a stunning comeback in the next outing between the sides at Ben Frilay Oval – where the Bridges came back from a 38-point deficit to record a stirring one-point victory.
