Following a competitive four rounds of Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 football, all sides have at least one win under their belt, with this weekend sure to produce some quality matches of football.
A massive local derby will headline the weekend of action, with Heidelberg and North Heidelberg set to lock horns at Warringal Park.
The Tigers currently sit on top of the table by percentage, largely thanks to their 142-point thumping of Whittlesea last Saturday.
They had 13 individual goalkickers on the day, with Josh Minogue leading the way up with four majors and getting five Coaches MVP Votes. Tom Schnerring and Matthew McInereny were also some of the Tigers’ better players on the day
North Heidelberg will be pleased with their performance against West Preston-Lakeside last week, falling short by just two points, but at 1-3, they’ll need to start finding some win’s if they don’t want to drift further from the top sides.
The Bulldogs will see last week as a missed opportunity to cause an upset over the reigning premiers, as despite having eight more scoring shots, an accurate 10.3 from the Roosters proved enough to hold on.
Billy Hogan was the main man up forward for the Bulldogs with three goals whilst Jesse Tardio continued his strong start to 2022 and polled eight Coaches MVP votes. He now moves up to equal first in the award.
This will be the first meeting between these two sides since the Bulldogs’ famous three-point win in the 2019 qualifying final, where they held off an almost monumental comeback by the Tigers to advance to the preliminary final.
If North Heidelberg bring the same intensity as they did against the Roosters, this could be the win to reinvigorate their season, while for Heidelberg, they’re one of four teams coming into the weekend sitting 3-1, so a loss would put them in danger of being slightly behind the eight ball.
West Preston-Lakeside will look to stamp their authority on the competition at J.E. Moore Park this weekend when they face Macleod.
The Roosters haven’t had convincing wins in their last two matches, particularly when they scraped over the line to defeat North Heidelberg by three points last week.
Fortunately, Rob Maiorana’s men kicked accurately, despite no Ahmed Saad in their forward line, with their 10.3 enough to secure their third win of the season.
Aidan Tilley filled the void left by Saad, kicking five goals and picking up nine coaches MVP Votes. Michael Ercolano and Alex Federico were crucial in the midfield to counter Jesse Tardio’s influence on the match.
Macleod on the other hand will need to pick themselves up in a hurry after three consecutive defeats.
Following a disappointing Good Friday showing, the Roos couldn’t respond against a then winless Northcote Park, going down by 4 points.
Reid Brandt and Lucas Hobbs stood up for Craig Hayes’ side in the defeat.
Macleod will be hopeful of at least an improved showing this weekend in order to get some confidence back while the Roosters will want to flex their muscles after only winning their last two matches against bottom four sides by a combined 18-points.
Northcote Park will face their biggest test so far this season when they travel to take on Greensborough.
The Borough picked up their most important win of the season so far when they defeated Montmorency by 13-points in round four.
Tom Bell quickly returned to his 2019 Frank Rosbrook wining form and once again brilliant, kicking four goals and picking up the perfect 10 Coaches MVP votes. Jack Johnston led the strong back six to limit the Magpies scoring while Tom Brindley was excellent around the ground.
Saade Ghazi’s men actually dropped to second over the weekend due to percentage these first four weeks have already proven that Greensborough will be a difficult team to beat this year.
Morale is sky high at Bill Lawry Oval following Northcote Park’s drought breaking victory over Macleod last week.
Alex Boyse played his best game for the Cougars since arriving at the start of the season, kicking five goals and receiving nine Coaches MVP votes. Their other stars Jordan Schroder, captain Matthew Perry & Ben McNiece also played important roles throughout the win.
The Cougars were no match for Greensborough last time they met in 2021, going down by 68-points. But Stephen Saddington’s side will want to build on their first win of the season last week, so expect Northcote Park to throw everything at the Borough.
Hurstbridge will have another challenge on their hands in Montmorency out at Ben Frilay Oval this weekend.
It’s been a solid start for the Bridges in 2022 who currently sit in sixth and with a 2-2 record, but last weekend, they were no match for a dominant Bundoora.
Coming off a five-day break, Hurstbridge didn’t kick a goal until the second half in their 59-point defeat although debutant Jacob Smith was a shining light on the day, kicking three goals.
Montmorency are also 2-2 to start the 2022 campaign, an impressive effort considering their difficult start to the year fixture wise.
After a round 1 win over Northcote Park, the Magpies have had to face three of last year’s top four sides, with their one-point nail-biting win over Heidelberg a fortnight ago their only scalp.
Last weekend, Montmorency fell short to Greensborough by 13 points and despite the defeat, some strong individual performances will keep the Magpies in good stead.
Marcus Lentini returned to the Magpies from VFL duties and had a solid impact, while Patrick Fitzgerald’s three goals up forward kept Garry Ramsay’s side in the hunt for most of the day. Jai Robinson was also influential.
These two met once in 2021, with Fitzgerald piling on five goals as the Magpies comfortably accounted for the Bridges by 51 points.
Whilst they’ll be disappointed with their loss last weekend, Hurstbridge will be refreshed as they aim to pull off another potential upset on their home deck.
At Yulong Reserve Bundoora will be looking to build on their strong run of form when they do battle with Whittlesea.
Following their disappointing Round 1 defeat to Greensborough, the Bulls join the pack of sides who are 3-1, with classy wins over Montmorency, North Heidelberg and most recently, Hurstbridge.
Sam Lloyd, David Zaharakis and Hamish Shepheard all missed for the Bulls in that 59-point win against the Bridges, but strong performances from Daniel Younan, Jackson Davies and Kyle Green ensured it was business as usual for Bundoora.
Whittlesea on the other hand have lost their last two matches, the most recent defeat being a 142-point drubbing over Heidelberg.
Xavier Dimasi and David Mennen stood up for an Eagles side missing the likes of Jarrad Waite and Zach Molloy, but Blair Harvey’s side will need to regroup quickly in order to keep away from the bottom of the ladder.
These two teams were fortunate enough to meet twice in the shortened 2021 season, with Bundoora winning by 75-points and 24-points respectively. The Eagles will be desperate to turn the tables and cause their second upset of the year.
