This weekend of the MC Labour Division 2 Finals has two blockbuster games and will finally give more of a clue as to where this year’s premiership will land.
Qualifying Final 2 – South Morang vs St Mary’s
South Morang’s first game of this finals series sees them come up against a confident St Mary’s side.
The Lions finished the season as minor premiers, including winning the last four games of the season, so they will be fresh and ready to go coming into this one.
They welcome back Nathan Stefanile, who is averaging 17.0 disposals, 14.9 contested possessions, 30.4 hit outs, 6.0 hit outs to advantage, and 109.9 hit outs to advantage across 17 games for the year, so he will want to have a big game once again this week.
Davin Cameron is having a solid season as well for the Lions, he’s been averaging 24.4 disposals, 10.8 contested possessions, 0.9 goals and 107.9 ranking points for the year. Tyson Gresham is often another key cog in this South Morang side, in Round 18 in the Lions’ 31-point win over Macleod, Gresham picked up 27 disposals and slotted two goals.
These two sides first met in Round 2, where South Morang got the job done by 55 points out at Mill Park Lakes, but in the return fixture, the ‘Burra got the job done by one point in front of their home fans. They will take some confidence from that game, but will remember Sebastian Latina slotting six goals for the Lions that afternoon.
St Mary’s are coming off a big Qualifying Final 2 win over Northcote Park by 26 points last week.
The win was launched by a big second quarter, kicking five goals to none, with forward Tom Eames kicking three himself in the term. Eames’ four total goals for the afternoon was a shining light for St Mary’s, Nicholas Dean was the only other with multiple goals, slotting two.
Huon Macgibbon was once again influential in the result, South Morang will need to keep watch on him, but overall this ruck battle between Stefanile and Macgibbon should be a beauty. Against the Cougars, Macgibbon had 37 hitouts, 21 disposals, 15 contested possessions, eight clearances, seven marks, seven intercept possessions and 149 ranking points.
Joshua Carelli was good around the ground last week for the ‘Burra, he had 20 disposals and six tackles. Nicholas Dean was a good threat up forward, with 15 disposals, eight marks and two goals.
Midfielders Ty Kitchell and Tane Cotter will both be unavailable this week, so those are two gaps that the ‘Burra are going to need to fill. Jack Cicitta and Harry Butterworth are back in the side, Butterworth has kicked 29 goals for the season so will be an important inclusion.
The winner of this finals-shaping match on Saturday will have a spot in the Grand Final, and the loser will see the winner of Northcote Park and OId Paradians in the Preliminary Final next week.
Semi Final Northcote Park vs Old Paradians
Northcote Park are coming off the back of a disappointing loss and face the momentum building Raiders in a must-win battle on Sunday.
As mentioned earlier, Northcote Park would be disappointed after their performance last Saturday against St Mary’s, they were pretty much out of the contest at half-time being down by 41 points. Better efforts in the third quarter brought the margin back to 22 points at three-quarter time, and Michael Amad was able to kick the first goal of the last quarter to bring the margin back to 18, but the ‘Burra were able to steady the ship and see out the game.
On Saturday afternoon, Jordan Perry picked up 30 disposals, 15 contested possessions, 11 clearances, seven tackles and 110 ranking points. Captain Dan Tallariti was also good down in defence, with 23 disposals, seven marks, seven rebound 50s and 124 ranking points. Those two will want to have big games once again this week.
Old Paradians ended Whittlesea’s season last week and will be looking the end Northcote Park’s season on Sunday.
After quarter time the Raiders were the better side, outscoring Whittlesea 64-36 in the next three quarters. Multiple goalscorers on the day for the Raiders included Liam McVeigh, who slotted three and Rufus Jones had two himself.
Skipper Kyle O’Sullivan once again found plenty of the footy for the Raiders, grabbing 29 disposals, 19 contested possessions, 12 clearances and 131 ranking points. He was able to get plenty of inside ball due to another big game from his ruckman Connor Mcdonald, who had 48 hit outs, eight hit outs to advantage, 25 disposals, 17 contested possessions, 11 clearances and 132 ranking points. Watch out for that duo on Sunday, along with the likes of Mitch Kane and Joshua Iacobaccio.
In Round 6, the Cougars defeated the Raiders by 19 points at Garvey Oval, but when the two sides met in Round 16 at Bill Lawry Oval, the tale was very different with the Raiders getting a huge win to the tune of 73 points. Connor Mcdonald was very influential that day picking up 27 disposals, 35 hit outs and 13 clearances.
The Raiders come into this game unchanged and seem to have found the right lineup at the right time. The winner of this one faces the loser of Saturday’s Qualifying Final 2 between South Morang and St Mary’s in Preliminary Final come Saturday week, and the loser says goodbye to their 2026 season.
Two big matchups in the second week of the MC Labour Division 2 finals series.
