A preview of the Meadows Greyhounds Division 1 semi finals.
This weekend’s matches see Macleod and North Heidelberg meet in Saturday’s second semi at Preston City Oval, with the winner to claim the first spot in this year’s grand final.
On Sunday, West Preston-Lakeside and Bundoora are vying to keep their season alive when they clash in the first semi final.
SECOND SEMI FINAL – MACLEOD v NORTH HEIDELBERG
The first place in this year’s grand final is up for grabs when Macleod and North Heidelberg go to battle in the Meadows Greyhounds Division 1 second semi final on Saturday.
Macleod has been a team on a mission all season as it looks to atone from consecutive grand final defeats, while North Heidelberg is riding a wave of momentum on the back of wins in 10 of its past 11 matches.
After topping the ladder for the second-consecutive season, Macleod enters this week’s showdown off a week’s rest. The break has been timely for the minor premier – who looks set to have a full squad to pick from this week, with the exception of Nick Lynch.
The Roos have again set the benchmark in 2018, despite going through a mini regeneration of their list – with the likes of Rourke Turner, Haydon and Kurt Manuel and Luke Joyce all becoming regular first-team players.
The key to the Roos success continues to be their outstanding depth and ability to not rely too heavily on just one player – evidenced by the fact they scored more points than any other team in 2018, despite their leading goal kicker booting just 36 majors.
The spread through the forward half is a key strength. Patrick Martin has been a dominant force this year, prior to a late-season injury. His 36-goal haul included bags of seven (against North Heidelberg) and six.
Anthony Doherty was the competition’s form player between Round 8 to 13 – when he polled more Coaches MVP votes than any other player, while the likes of Lucas Hobbs, Justin White, Ned McKeown and Liam Brandt continue to perform to an extraordinary level.
Macleod’s past two trips to the second semi have resulted in wins – downing Heidelberg in 2016, albeit coming through via the qualifying final, before smashing Northcote Park by 106 points last year.
If the pain of consecutive grand final defeats isn’t enough of a motivating factor this September campaign, then the hope of sending out much-loved coach Garry Ramsay with another premiership should provid the added hunger.
In Macleod’s way this week stands a North Heidelberg side that possesses a frightening combination of red-hot form, sky-high confidence and a burning hunger to create history by being the first side in league history to win a premiership the season after being promoted.
The Bulldogs may be outsiders this week, but it would certainly come as no surprise if they booked the first place in this year’s grand final. Last week’s qualifying final win over West Preston-Lakeside demonstrated they are not just making up the numbers in September.
The one query all season has been whether their list bats deep as other premiership hopefuls. It may be irrelevant given how good the Bulldogs are when their top-end talent is playing at their best.
Jesse Tardio and Brent Harvey were phenomenal last week, while Billy Hogan demonstrated that he will be a vital contributor this finals campaign with a starring role in a season-best performance.
While the midfield looks to be North’s strongest line, the forward line manages to kick winning scores each week and last week made the most of its chances, with Leigh Gilbert leading the charge.
Down back they also look extremely settled, with Ryan McGhie set for another big role this week after keeping Ahmed Saad goalless in the qualifying final.
FIRST SEMI FINAL – WEST PRESTON-LAKESIDE v BUNDOORA
The difference one week makes.
This time last week West Preston-Lakeside was heading into the finals as one of the leading contenders after winning its final six regular season games. Meanwhile Bundoora was scrambling to put a side together after a host of injuries at training threatened to decimate its premiership defence.
The sides now head into the first semi final in different mindsets following contrasting results in the first week of the finals series. The Roosters were overrun by North Heidelberg, while the Bulls stormed to victory over Greensborough.
However, those putting a line through West Preston-Lakeside’s premiership chances may need to rethink their decision to write off the second-placed side so quickly.
Yes, the Roosters’ second half fadeout against North Heidelberg – where they failed to kick a goal – was disappointing. However, the Roosters did control the game for much of the first half and could have had an unassailable lead at main break.
They led 5.10 to 5.0 at half time and fritted away several other chances that didn’t score. If their lead had been four goals at the main break in the teaming rain, then perhaps we would be talking a far different story.
The positives from the game were the performances of Mark Kovacevic and Liam McVeigh. Kovacevic was outstanding against Michael Florance – who has arguably been the best ruckman in the league this year. His battle against Matty Dennis will be defining this week.
McVeigh was close to best afield at half time and provided a strong presence in the forward half. With Ahmed Saad likely to have a much bigger impact this week after being well contained against the Bulldogs, the Roosters certainly have weapons to kick a winning score.
Bundoora is starting to hit peak form at the right time of the year and last week’s second half sent a stern warning to the rest of the competition that they are playing just as well as their 2017 premiership campaign.
Led by starring roles from Josh Grabowski and Josh Iacobaccio, the Bulls piled on nine goals to two after half time to win by 48 points – doing so with Brent Marshall, Nathan Thomas, Ricky Dyson, Jack Furlong, Ben Young, Richard Bamblett and Ben Nesci all sidelined.
Bundoora looks settled on every line on the ground, however it is an unheralded defence which perhaps deserves the most plaudits after proving impenetrable last week.
Scott Dowell continues to get the job done with a minimal fuss but his impact deserves to be credited. He is almost impossible to outmark and is just as effective when the ball is at ground level.
Eamon Gilbert has fitted in well after finally getting a call-up late in the season, while Dale Marshall and Iacobaccio appear to relish the bigger expanses of Preston City Oval and give plenty of drive out of the back half.
While most may favour Bundoora based on last week’s form, recent history is on the Roosters side. Each of the past three first semi finals have been won by the side on the rebound from the qualifying final.
Head to head form between the sides is split at one win apiece this year. West Preston-Lakeside kept an undermanned Bundoora to five goals in a big win in Round 6, before the Bulls turned the tables with a 20-point win a high-quality game in Round 12.
