The MC Labour Division 2 ladder continues to be a game of snakes and ladders and there were some big moves made over the weekend.
Macleod were the biggest winners of the weekend, not quite with their winning margin although that was a healthy 63 points over Panton Hill. But the win catapulted them into fifth spot overtaking Fitzroy Stars with superior percentage.
It was a first quarter shootout at AE Cracknells Reserve, with the Roos kicking eight goals for the term and the Redbacks kicking four. From there the game settled and defenders from both teams started to have a say. Macleod however took a 35-point lead to the main break.
The Roos didn’t let up after half time, booting another nine goals in the second half to run away with the four points.
Zac Hudson was dominant in the ruck with 26 disposals, 44 hitouts and two goals while Darcy Barden has all but sewn up the Division 2 leading goal kicker award with another five majors taking his 2026 tally to 62.
Will Dunn (20 disposals), Kobe Brandt (22 disposals, one goal) and Kurt Manuel (22 disposals, nine tackles) were key contributors for Macleod across the afternoon.
The Redbacks were well served by Oliver Parks (14 disposals, three goals), Riley Livingstone (19 disposals, one goal) and Ryan Sizeland (18 disposals, seven clearances, one goal) but the loss is a significant blow to their hopes of staying up in Division 2 in 2027 – they would need to defeat South Morang and hope Lower Plenty can beat Thomastown this coming weekend as a starting point to draw level on five wins apiece.
Old Paradians showed their best footy could well be good enough at the pointy end of the season after outclassing ladder leaders Northcote Park to the tune of 73 points at Bill Lawry Oval.
The Raiders played some of their best footy of the season in the first half, skipping away to a 37-point lead at half time as the Cougars could only muster 2.5. Another four goals for Old Parade made a certainty of the result by three-quarter time, leading by an even 50 points and keeping Northcote Park goalless in the final term.
It was the midfield brigade of the Raiders who held sway with Connor McDonald (27 disposals, 13 clearances, one goal), Mitch Kane (30 disposals, one goal) and Noah Whittle (29 disposals, seven tackles) leading the way. Their finals place is far from assured however; crunch games against Macleod and Fitzroy Stars – the two sides directly below them – await in the next fortnight.
It was a tough day for Northcote Park and they had few winners, but the games of James McArdle (28 disposals), Dan Tallariti (25 disposals, ten marks) and Jordan Perry (23 disposals, seven clearances) stood out. The Cougars remain in top spot thanks to percentage, but they’ll want to recapture some form against Whittlesea and Thomastown in the coming weeks.
Fitzroy Stars have some work to do to make finals after dropping out of the top five following a 17-point loss to South Morang at Sir Doug Nicholls Reserve.
The Stars had the better of the early exchanges, leading by 16 points at quarter time before the Lions started to get moving. The visitors had their nose in front by four points at the last change before four goals to one in the last term sealed the result.
Jesse John Christidis (four goals) and Davin Cameron (21 disposals, three goals) were the focal points in attack for South Morang, with Nathan Stefanile again proving a dominant force in the ruck with 19 disposals, 31 hit outs and 11 clearances. Demetrios Constantinou was also busy with 21 touches across the afternoon.
For the home side they had some prolific ball winners with Kain Proctor (33 disposals, eight clearances), Lachlan Edwards (31 disposals, 14 marks) and James Trajkovski (31 disposals, seven clearances, one goal) all racking up plenty of the footy.
Mingara Clark booted three goals in attack for the Stars but some wasteful kicking in front of goal which yielded 6.14 for the afternoon was arguably the difference between a win and a loss. St Mary’s and Old Paradians await in the next two weeks and they will be relying on other results to fall the Stars’ way if they’re to grab a finals spot.
St Mary’s ended the hot streak of Thomastown but it wasn’t without a fright as the Burra prevailed by just eight points.
The Bears flew the gates early and kicked four goals to one in the opening quarter to lead by 23 points at the first break. But from there the Burra were able to grind down their opposition, eating the margin down to eight points at the last change.
When Thomastown’s James Lucente kicked his fourth goal of the afternoon the Bears looked as though they would make it four wins on the trot, but St Mary’s lifted and kicked the final four goals of the game in a withering six-minute burst to snatch victory.
Youseph Dib (23 disposals, eight tackles), Lawrence Lo Piccolo (22 disposals, seven clearances) and Zain Yamak (32 disposals, one goal) were among the Bears’ best and Jake Nikolov chipped in with a couple of majors.
For the Burra Huon Macgibbon continued his purple patch of form with another 20 disposals, seven clearances and a goal, Josh Carelli had 21 disposals and a goal and Brayden Apostola had 20 touches and a goal to go with seven tackles.
Whittlesea and Lower Plenty closed out the round with a thrilling shootout at Lower Plenty Oval, the Eagles holding off a fast finishing Bears side to sneak home by a solitary point.
It looked as though the Eagles were in cruise control at half time with a lead of 27 points, before a seven-goal third term saw Lower edge ahead at three-quarter time. Jack Madgen’s fifth goal in the first minute of the final term had the wind in the Bears’ sails, but Whittlesea dug in and booted the next four in an eleven-minute stretch to look as though they were home.
Late goals to Billy Johnson and Devon Noons had the Bears daring to believe, but the siren won as Whittlesea won a nail biter.
Madgen was a standout with his five majors from 20 disposals and nine marks, as was Joel Leslie who had a triple-double of sorts with 22 disposals, ten tackles and ten clearances. Jordon Smith was also industrious with nine clearances from 22 disposals.
The Eagles’ midfield continues to be their one wood and they again stood tall. Thomas Falls was best afield with 22 disposals and six clearances, ruckman Khaled El-Leissy kicked two goals and Bailey Robinson and Mitch Andrews were also busy through the day.
While both sides aren’t completely out of the finals discussion in mathematical terms, they would need to win their last two games handsomely and rely on some hail Mary results from other sides if they were to sneak in.
