AFTER a season-opening round that panned three days, all ten Division 1 clubs return to Saturday football this weekend.
The biggest-billed game this week is a rematch of last year’s preliminary final, with Macleod hosting Greensborough at De Winton Park. Both sides head into the clash on the back of impressive Round 1 wins.
Wearing the NFL’s silver clash jumper, Macleod’s on-field form remained recognisable as it showed it is well placed to improve on last year’s third-place finish. The Roos smashed North Heidelberg from the outset as they raced out to a 52-point advantage at quarter time before going on to win by 107. Hayden Seivers was best afield, while Lucas Hobbs was also dominant in his first game since crossing from Whittlesea.
Ben Turner made a winning start to his senior coaching career when Greensborough outclassed Eltham on Good Friday to take a 38-point win in front of a huge crowd at War Memorial Park. Returning duo Josh Riddle and Tim Atkins both made their presence felt immediately, with Riddle showing he is a more than capable replacement for Tim Bongetti.
2014 runner-up Heidelberg will play its first home game of the season when it takes on Lower Plenty at Warringal Park, with both sides trying to improve their record to 2-0.
The Tigers welcomed back a number of stars from the long term injury list in last week’s win over Bundoora, with Michael Brunelli, Josh Gribben and Nick Miller all featuring in the 27-point victory at Yulong Reserve. Young gun Will Knight, who is listed by Collingwood’s VFL side, and Jason Kennedy booted four goals, with three of the skipper’s majors coming in the final term.
Trailing at the first three breaks, Lower Plenty had to overcome a 12-point deficit at three-quarter time before beating Montmorency by 14 points last week. Reigning Frank Rosbrook Trophy winner Matthew Vasilevski provided plenty of run in the final term as the Bears booted six of the last eight goals. Tom Keys was also a standout in the win.
Northcote Park made an impressive start to its new era under Harmit Singh and the Cougars will be looking for a repeat performance when they travel to Eltham.
Key signings Tarkyn Lockyer and Ash Close were dominant inside attacking 50 against West Preston-Lakeside under lights last Friday, combining for nine goals. Luke Svarc won plenty of contested football in the midfield, while Singh and Wayne Schultz marshalled the backline, which included Collingwood VFL defender Ryan Pendlebury – the brother of Magies captain Scott.
Eltham was far from disgraced in its loss to Greensborough and showed encouraging signs moving forward. James Kroussoratis was arguably the best player on the ground with eight goals, including the final four majors of the day. Matthew Evans was solid in defence while Bradyn Taglieri slotted neatly back into the Panthers midfield.
West Preston-Lakeside and North Heidelberg will both be looking to rebound from heavy defeats when they meet at Preston City Oval.
The Roosters kicked the first goal in their loss to Northcote Park but never threatened thereafter despite the best efforts of Andrew Dobby and Brad Sanderson. The form of David Rodan was also encouraging in his first NFL game, with the former AFL star showing he has lost none of the skills that served him through his 185 games at the elite level.
North Heidelberg received a tough initiation on its return to the top flight, with the Doggies conceding 55 scoring shots against Macleod. Shane Harvey booted five of his side’s 10 majors and the Bulldogs will hope a return to the scene of last year’s Division 2 grand final success will bring more good memories this week.
Montmorency and Bundoora are also both searching for their first win of the season when they meet in a twilight encounter at Montmorency Park.
The Magpies will feel they let a golden opportunity slip last week, with poor kicking in front of goal ensuring they didn’t put Lower Plenty out of the contest when they had the chance. Key forward Pat Fitzgerald will return for this early season crunch game after missing last week, while the Magpies may be without midfielders Ben Fennell and Bobby Lamanna who left the field early against the Bears.
Bundoora began life without Cameron Cloke, Brayden Shaw, Trent Barbero and David Mitchell with a defeat, with a poor third quarter costing the Bulls any chance of victory last week. Matthew Dennis and Luke Simpson shared the ruck duties and were their side’s best in the loss, while Gary Moorcroft – who lined up alongside son Beau – was the club’s best forward with three goals.
