With the final bye done and dusted, all 10 sides in Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 are set for a big month of action, beginning with Round 15 this weekend.
Both Montmorency and North Heidelberg will look to establish themselves as the biggest challenger to Heidelberg when they meet at Montmorency Park North Oval.
These two sides come into this clash in brilliant form and will see this battle as a great opportunity to seal a top three spot.
Nick Rutley’s men started to hit their straps before the division-wide break, winning three straight games after losses to Bundoora and Heidelberg to move to a 9-5 record.
Stellar seasons from Nash Holmes and Stefan Uzelac have complimented the club’s terrific form in recent weeks and were both key players in Montmorency’s most recent clash, a come from behind triumph over Hurstbridge away from home.
If they can defeat the Bulldogs at Montmorency Park this week, they will be in the box seat to secure a third consecutive double chance finish, with matches against Macleod, Greensborough and West Preston-Lakeside to round out the home and away campaign.
But that will be no easy feat against a North Heidelberg outfit who are also entering this match off a three-game winning streak, although their most recent match of the three saw them having to edge out bottom placed Macleod in difficult conditions.
They kicked nine majors as a team but seven of them came from Brock Chircop and Dane Whitnall, the latter returning to the Bulldogs lineup after representing the Northern Bullants in the VFL.
Chircop meanwhile has now kicked 22 goals in 11 matches in 2024, which included a season-high of four majors against Montmorency in Round 6, despite his team going down by 38 points at Shelley Street Reserve.
Jason Heatley’s men have a tougher end to the regular campaign, with big games against Hurstbridge and Banyule still to come, but a victory over the Magpies on Saturday can alleviate plenty of pressure on their bid for a top-three finish.
A 33rd straight match without loss is on the line for Heidelberg ahead of their clash with Greensborough at Warringal Park.
Despite tough conditions a fortnight ago, they still managed to surpass the 100-point mark for the eighth time this season during their comfortable triumph over Bundoora, highlighting their incredible dominance in the competition to date.
Whilst the club have had contributors galore throughout their premiership defence so far, few have stood out more consistently than midfielder Luke Bunker, having been named in his side’s best in 13 of 14 matches.
He also leads the Coaches MVP Award leaderboard by 23 votes ahead of the final month of the regular campaign.
With the minor premiership remarkably sewn up at this stage of the year, Vin Dattoli can play around with his team ahead of the finals campaign, but they will still be weary of a Greensborough outfit who have plenty to play for.
The Boro missed an opportunity to climb up the ladder in their Round 14 clash with Banyule, trailing by two points at three quarter time before going down by 24 points.
As a result, they have only won just once in their seven matches against sides currently occupying the top six spots of the ladder, and still have three of those games to come, which could decide whether they make an appearance in September or not.
Captain Jack Johnston has produced his best patch of form for the season, with mentions in his side’s best in four consecutive matches, while Zak McCubbin was his side’s only multiple goalkicker in the Boro’s defeat to Banyule two weeks ago and has now kicked more than one goal in three straight games.
Even if a win doesn’t come this weekend, it’ll be important for Matthew Hyde’s men to build some momentum ahead of some massive matches in the hopes of securing a finals spot.
Saturday will be one of a few opportunities for Bundoora to create some distance from the bottom of the ladder when they welcome West Preston-Lakeside to Yulong Reserve.
After a strong start to the second half of 2024, the Bulls have been unable to match it with some sides in the top five, with their two most recent games being defeats to Heidelberg and North Heidelberg by a combined margin of 141 points.
But whilst their defence has been under plenty of heat in that period, it hasn’t stopped Jackson Davies and Lachlan East from continuing their terrific campaigns, the duo being the side’s most consistent players in 2024; particularly East who has been named in his side’s best in his last nine successive matches.
A bit is on the line for Heath Scotland’s men against a side they opened their account against back in Round 6 with a 37-point triumph. If they can repeat the dose, they could move two games and percentage clear of last place, ahead of favourable matches against Eltham and Macleod still to come.
But West Preston-Lakeside will likely cause more of a challenge for the Bulls than they did in their previous contest, especially as they come into this game off a comfortable 30-point win over Eltham, keeping the Panthers to just three majors.
A five-goal opening term set up the victory for the Roosters, and they will hope for the same result this time around, after being kept goalless in the first quarter of their loss to Bundoora in 2024.
With Felix and Max Dreher as well as Dante Colosimo and Adam Valeri standing out in their Round 14 win, similar performances will go a long way towards Ian Aitken’s side recording consecutive wins for the first time this season.
Macleod will aim to boost their chances of playing Division 1 footy next year when they take on an out-of-form Hurstbridge at De Winton Park.
The Roos continue to fight for their spot in the top flight next year despite recording only two wins so far in 2024, however they held their own in their most recent match, falling short to finals bound North Heidelberg by just 18 points.
Captain Justin White has been an excellent leader for the club in 2024 and it is showing on field as well, being named in his side’s best in four of his previous five matches.
His premiership teammate Nick Lynch was yesterday announced as senior men’s coach of the side for the next two years, taking over from Craig Hayes at the end of the season, which may provide some extra motivation for the club to keep their place in Division 1 to begin Lynch’s tenure.
They may fancy their chances against a Hurstbridge outfit who have now fallen in three of their last four games, including to Montmorency by 15 points in Round 14 despite leading at three quarter time.
Nick Kent continues to stand tall inside forward 50 in the absence of key forwards Joel Naylor and Bailey Jordan, kicking three goals and being named as his side’s best in the defeat to the Magpies. Kent has produced 11 majors in his previous three games.
But others have also been in solid form of late, including young Zachary Reichert and Blake Fitzgerald.
Joel Cordwell’s men will still be favoured to win this match-up, having last defeated Macleod by 106 points in Round 6, and with games against Greensborough, North Heidelberg and Heidelberg to round out the home and away campaign, a victory of similar ilk would give Hurstbridge plenty of confidence to tackle those three opponents.
Eltham will look to rebound off their much-needed bye when they host Banyule at Eltham Central Park.
The Panthers lost three straight games before last week’s bye to see themselves only one game clear of bottom placed Macleod, but have still seen promising performances from some of their key players.
Mitchell Stafford and Miller Wortley have improved their performances in recent weeks while Colm Culligan and James Minahan were in their side’s best in their recent loss to West Preston-Lakeside.
Premiership duo Jesse Donaldson and Josh Merkel have also proven to be invaluable during a tough period for Eltham, with Merkel especially standing out since returning to the side in Round 11.
However, their bid to stay in the top flight doesn’t get any easier this week, as they prepare to do battle with Banyule, who got back to winning ways a fortnight ago.
Their 24-point victory over Greensborough saw them concede their lowest score of the season, and now creates a vital four-point gap from fifth and sixth positions.
Jack Langford’s purple patch continued whilst Lewin Davis and Sam McLarty returned to form in the team’s crucial victory at Beverley Road Oval.
They’ll go in confident this weekend against an Eltham side who they’ve now defeated in their last three meetings, dating back to the 2022 Division 2 Second Semi-Final.
Their most recent game saw another tight affair between the two, with Banyule pulling away in the last quarter to win by 25 points.
The Bears have a favourable run home, with Saturday being the start of three straight games against sides currently in the bottom four, meaning an inaugural Division 1 finals berth can be all but confirmed over the next few weeks if results go according to ladder position.
