Week one of finals is upon us in Heidelberg Gold Club Division 3 with two great games across Saturday and Sunday at Lalor Reserve.
Laurimar and Mernda clash on Saturday, with the winner earning the right to take on Ivanhoe. The loser gets another chance and will meet the winner of Watsonia versus Heidelberg West.
The Power is coming off the round 18 bye and will be fresh for this encounter. Based on wins and percentage, there appears to be a gap between them and the Demons. They won three more games than Mernda and have a percentage of 238 compared to 140.
Making things more difficult for the Demons is that they go into the game without ruck duo Billy Morrison and Lincoln Coffey. Morrison has already missed two games of his four-game suspension, with Declan Felle doing the ruckwork in those matches.
The last clash between these rivals in Round 11 at Laurimar Reserve saw Laurimar with a 91-point triumph. However, the lop-sided Round 11 contest occurred when Mernda was going through an injury crisis. Many of those players are back now and, despite the loss last week to the improving Kilmore at JJ Clancy Reserve in what was effectively a dead rubber, they will give themselves a chance to cause the upset.
Captain Dayne Kellett has now played two games back from injury. Teenager Jett Philips is looking lively across half forward, and Lachlan Potter is giving them plenty of drive off half back. Back in the Round 2 meeting between these teams at Waterview Reserve, the Demons pushed Laurimar all the way and only went down by ten points.If Mernda can produce that sort of form, they would have every chance to prevail.
Laurimar goes into this game having lost two games for the season, both to Ivanhoe. Because they were unbeaten against everyone else and have been playing wonderful football for the latter part of the season, they will go into the game with plenty of confidence.
The bye last weekend will be seen as a positive as it gave a few players a well-earned break. Joel Lawson and Bailey Macleod have been in great form, kicking goals and doing well in the midfield. Ethan Bateman and Josh Leather will look to control the ruck battles and give their ground level players first use of the ball.
While the pundits are likely to strongly favour the Power, they still have to overcome a determined Mernda outfit to achieve their aim.
The Sunday match between Heidelberg West and Watsonia is full of intrigue. The Hawks senior team will plays finals for the first time in their history. This follows some near misses in the past. Most recently, they finished fifth in 2023 when there was a final four. They were pipped by Old Eltham Collegians on percentage. The previous season, they missed finals by a game. In 2021, the race for fourth looked like going down to the wire between the Heidelberg West and the Turtles when the season was abandoned.
This season, Michael Missen’s team would have been considered outsiders to play finals. The team was fifth after Round 3 and then dropped out of the top five, falling as low as ninth. They climbed back up to sixth after Round 11 and remained there until the very last round. It was only when the Turtles had an upset win over Reservoir last Saturday that they rose to fifth.
Fletcher Parkinson has stepped up in the ruck late in the season after the injury to vice-captain Mitchell Antonello. James Condello and Nick Paton have been in good form as well. Up forward, Bryce Barnes has impressed as a marking target, kicking 44 goals in the regular season.
Coincidentally, Cameron Cloke has also scored 44 goals for the Saints. Their fans will hope he is available after missing last weekend. Down back, Luke Sansonetti has had a great season, while midfielders Nathan Hallyburton and Luke Lowry have mightily impressed.
The Saints came into the season with no external expectations. Few outside the four walls of the club gave them much hope. In the season opener, they lost by 78-points to the highly rated Laurimar outfit.
Watsonia pulled an upset over Reservoir in Round 2 which began a six-game block where they won five and lost by a goal to Mernda. Unlike the Hawks, the Saints were inside the top five for most of the season. But they didn’t clinch their spot in the finals until the siren rang last Saturday night in the evening game.
Both sides outperforming expectations and coming into the finals with eagerness and confidence. It is all set up for a great game, with only the winner to proceed to the second week of finals action.
