Saturday is set to be another enthralling round of action in Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1, with key matches across the board.
Heidelberg and Greensborough will lock horns at Warringal Park in what will be a highly anticipated top of the table clash.
The first placed Tigers will have home ground advantage as the look to build on their current three-game winning streak.
Last weekend was their most impressive win to date, comfortably defeating Bundoora at Yulong Reserve by six goals. Josh Minogue kicked five of them whilst the engine room of Matthew Smith, Sam Gilmore and Lachlan Wilson proved too strong for their Bulls opponents.
Greensborough will want to ensure they make the most of their chances this time around, following their entertaining draw against West Preston-Lakeside last Saturday.
Tom Bell kicked three majors in the first term to kickstart the Borough’s run but they kicked 3.10 in the second half to finish the match all square with their fast finishing Roosters opponents.
Saade Ghazi’s side won’t be able to get away with the same fate against a strong Heidelberg line up.
A win for the Borough will see them return to the top of the ladder while a sixth win in seven games from the Tigers will possibly see them create a six point gap between them and second position.
West Preston-Lakeside have the chance to rise back up the ladder when they face Montmorency at J.E. Moore Park.
The Roosters put in a better performance than in recent weeks when they drew with the Borough last Saturday, especially with great individual efforts from the likes of Adam Valeri and Alex Federico.
But with three of their next four games against fellow top five sides, the Roosters will need to start banking wins to ensure they comfortably stay in the finals hunt.
The Magpies have won their last two matches and moved to third on the ladder to sit just one game behind first spot.
But their most recent victory over North Heidelberg was anything but easy as they produced a 20 point turnaround after three quarter time to win by 10 points.
Liam Wale-Buxton has been one of the recruits of the year for the Magpies, maintain his strong dominance and finishing with another eight Coaches MVP votes. Sam Binion has also been stringing together a solid campaign.
The Roosters were comfortable 37 point winners over Montmorency last time these two met, but the Magpies have made some significant improvements since and will be looking put some more pressure on the Tigers and the Borough.
Sitting tenth and ninth respectively, North Heidelberg and Whittlesea will meet at Shelley Street Reserve in the hopes of receiving a crucial four points.
Having lost their last four in a row, the Bulldogs have found themselves on the bottom of the ladder and needing to find some form in order to avoid relegation talk.
They’ll be disappointed with their last quarter performance against Montmorency, a game in which Jason Heatley’s side led at all three quarter breaks before ultimately going down by 10 points.
It’s been the story of the season North Heidelberg, they’ve had close affairs and winnable opportunities against the likes of Bundoora, West Preston-Lakeside and Heidelberg but haven’t been able to apply the finishing touches.
Whittlesea have some much needed momentum behind them when head to Shelley Street, following a seven point triumph over Macleod.
Josh Eid shone with three goals, including the sealer, and six coaches MVP Votes as the Eagles made use of the Roos’ inaccurate goalkicking to break a three game losing streak.
These two sides met once in last year, where it was the Eagles who claimed their first win in the top flight since 2018 with a 13 point win over the Bulldogs.
Blair Harvey’s men will be hoping for a similar outcome this Saturday while a win for North Heidelberg could see them quickly jump as high as seventh.
Northcote Park turned their form around and will want to keep the improvements coming when they play Bundoora.
The Cougars have now won two of their last three matches, the latest victory coming last weekend against Hurstbridge at Bill Lawry Oval
Alex Boyse bounced back from a goalless performance against Greensborough with six goals. Jordan and Matt Perry as well as Jack Sammartino were excellent as Stephen Saddington’s side continue to gel together.
For the second time this season, the Bulls fell short, this time by 36 points to Heidelberg.
Despite going into the match with four consecutive wins under their belt, Bundoora were no match for the Tigers, particularly in the second half, as they fell to fourth spot at the completion of the round.
Both these sides played against each other twice in 2022, with Bundoora getting wins on both occasions by 28 and 27 points respectively.
But an upset certainly won’t be out of the question after Northcote Park’s recent form, the Bulls however will want to keep banking wins in the lead up to big matches against Greensborough and West Preston-Lakeside later in the month.
Macleod and Hurstbridge will both be looking to bounce back from disappointing losses when they meet at De Winton Park.
Inaccuracy cost the Kangaroos dearly in their defeat to Whittlesea, kicking 27 behinds and only eight goals as they went down by seven points.
Despite the loss, Brad Leggett played his best game of the 2022 season alongside spirited performances from Lucas Hobbs and Sebastian Latina.
The Bridges continued their unwanted three game losing streak when they went down to Northcote Park last weekend.
They kept in close vicinity with the Cougars for most of the game and despite kicking an accurate 14.6, they couldn’t get the win.
The forward stocks continued to shine for Hurstbridge however, the likes of Cooper Perrin and Joel Naylor leading the way up forward with three goals each.
It was a close encounter last time these two sides faced each other in 2021, with the Bridges holding on to win by six points. Expect this match to be just as competitive.
