Sides inside the top five of the MC Labour Division 2 table will be looking to continue building momentum as we enter the final third of the regular season.
Whittlesea Showgrounds is the place to be this week in a first vs third clash is set to be an absolute belter as Macleod look to stay on top of the ladder and Whittlesea aim to jump into the top two.
Macleod has only lost the one game this season and that happened all the way back in round one vs Diamond Creek. They will want to continue their 11-game winning streak this weekend against one of the best sides in the competition.
Darcy Barden has been dominant up forward for the Roos kicking 64 goals from 12 games, but he isn’t a one man show as Kobe Brandt and Mackenzie Hogg have also both had outstanding seasons up to date.
Meanwhile Whittlesea last lost in round seven to Macleod and will be hoping to reverse the result this time around. The Eagles will be full of confidence though after a 105-point win last week against Lower Plenty.
Thomas Falls has been stellar this season, having already been named in the best players 9 times and claiming the 48 Coaches MVP votes, including 10 in Whittlesea’s win last weekend.
Reigning Division 2 Best and Fairest Taidhg Bland has provided great support while Jason Murphy has already slammed home 22 goals from just nine games.
Macleod will be high on confidence having won their Round 7 encounter with Whittlesea by 29 points on their home deck of De Winton Park.
With the Eagles continuing to improve since that game though and starting to hit top form, it could be a closer contest this time around.
Lower Plenty will travel to Bill Lawry Oval to take on Northcote Park as they look to get their first win since Round 7.
These two teams faced off in round one and Lower Plenty enjoyed a 20-point victory, and this will give them a lot of confidence heading into this weekend’s clash.
Riley Alexander will be a big focus point up forward as he looks to add to his yearly tally of 32 goals to help get the Bears season back on track.
Ben Smith has also been dominant this year and was good earlier in the year in this matchup while Jed and Tyler Wallace have also been consistent contributors.
Their opponents this weekend in Northcote Park have won their last two games and now sit two games clear of the Bears in fifth place.
For the Cougars they will look to Noah Langborne and Ben Reddick to continue to stellar seasons. Jacob Thompson has also been very good in front of goal kicking 23 goals up to this date and after kicking five last week he will be full of confidence heading into this contest.
Lower Plenty need to get back onto the winners list quickly if they want to push their case to be a legitimate finals team in 2025.
Watsonia will look to try and get their second win of the season at home this weekend whilst Panton Hill will try and keep their finals hunt alive at Binnak Park on Saturday afternoon.
Panton Hill are coming off a 22-point win against Thomastown last weekend, whilst Watsonia took a heavy defeat to Diamond Creek.
At this stage in the season Watsonia are looking to boost their chances of survival whilst Panton Hill are trying to stay in the hunt for the top five.
Ethan Lowe has been very good for the Saints this year kicking 25 goals, whilst Ben Callaghan, Nick Lawson and Josh Boulton have both been consistent performers across the year.
The Redbacks have a much more widespread of goal kickers with Thomas Blake (17), Jason Pannam (16) and Oliver Parks (13) all kicking more than 10 goals in 2025. Nicholas Parks has also been ultra-consistent so far this year.
Simon Amore’s side will go in confident having claimed the points in their Round 3 encounter with the Saints this year, winning by 26 points at A.E. Cracknell Reserve.
St Mary’s will travel to Main St Reserve this week as they take on Thomastown in a bid keep themselves a couple games clear of Northcote Park in fourth position, as well as build momentum leading into a finals campaign.
If the Bears are any chance of making finals then this is a must-win game as they look to get back on the winners list after two consecutive losses.
For the Bears, James Lucente has been very damaging with 21 goals this season whilst Kyle Green has kicked 19 goals and Youseph Dib has been very consistent in 2025.
They face a St Mary’s team eager to bounce back after going down to Northcote Park by 10 points last weekend at home despite having more scoring shots.
Jack Cicitta has been dominant in front of the goals for them this season having kicked 34 goals from his 12 games to sit second on the league’s goal kicking.
Tane Cotter has also been very good for St Mary’s sitting second in their goal kicking, but he has already been in the team’s best players eight times this year.
He has been closely followed by partner-in-crime Rory Hanlon who has only played the ten games but been ultra consistent and has added 14 goals this year to give them multiple avenues to goal.
There’ve been some cracking encounters over recent years between the Bears and Burra. It was Jack Bianchin’s side who claimed the points in their most recent meeting back in Round 7 at Whatmough Park.
Second and second last are set to do battle this weekend as Diamond Creek travel to the Garvey Oval to face Old Paradians.
The Creekers, who are currently in second position, hope to win their 11th game of the year to continue their stellar season and keep putting pressure on Macleod in their bid to become minor premiers.
Andrew Tranquili’s men have an extremely balanced attack with Bronson Hill, Ben Major and Jett Mclaughlan all kicking 17 or more goals this season. Ewan Macpherson has been dominant for the Creekers but has had great help from Jacob Booth.
On the other hand, Old Paradians will look to cause an massive upset and grab their fourth win of their 2025 campaign.
Although the Raiders haven’t had it all their own way this year, they would have wanted to have still had some good contributors across the board through Darcy Vallance and Billy Bedford, whilst Lachie Kerr has kicked 16 goals for the year.
Ben Turner’s men were held to just one goal in their first ever meeting with Diamond Creek back in Round 3 under lights at Coventry Oval. The Creekers finished on 16.19 (115) that night to claim a 106-point victory.
