There remains a big opportunity for three unbeaten sides to continue their hot starts to the 2024 MC Labour Division 2 season ahead of this week’s action.
For the first time since the 2022 Division 3 Grand Final, South Morang and Laurimar will do battle, this time at Laurimar Reserve.
In their five meetings back in 2022, the Lions took the chocolates on three occasions, including that year’s Grand Final, which was an impressive display.
The Lions have since won 22 of a possible 31 matches and are one of the three sides without a loss to their name thus far in 2024.
Their most recent victory over Thomastown came about thanks to some terrific performances from Bailey Brown and Kyle Wheatley, the latter now having kicked 10 majors in his three matches since coming across from Bundoora.
Meanwhile, after being named amongst his side’s best players in Saturday’s victory against his old side, Tyrone Leonardis looks to have recaptured his 2023 form. One of the premier talents of the division, he’ll be one the Power will be looking to shut out of the game.
Their opponents are in search of their first win of the season in their inaugural Division 2 campaign and were no match for Diamond Creek away from home last Saturday, going down by 93 points and being kept to just five goals for the afternoon.
Bailey Macleod has been a consistent performer for last year’s Division 3 premiers, being the only player to feature in his side’s best in the opening three games.
Joel Lawson has also been handy inside 50 with eight goals to his name already, but Jimmy Atkins will be hoping to find more avenues to goal this week, with his side currently the lowest scoring team in the competition after Round 3.
Whilst South Morang might be expected to make it four wins from four to start the season, the heartbreak of their Grand Final defeat 18 months ago may spur the Power to an inspiring upset.
Watsonia will be hoping to snap their winless run when they take on Panton Hill in front of their faithful at Binnak Park.
The Saints have had the wood over Panton Hill in recent times, having won their last four games against the Redbacks. It’s a trend George Lattouf will hope continues to avoid falling further behind the pack.
After promising performances in the first two games of the year, Watsonia were off the pace in the final two terms of their Saturday clash with Whittlesea, conceding 12 of the next 13 goals to go down by 81 points.
Joshua Boulton had the most Coaches MVP award votes from the match with eight, as his efforts in defensive 50 clearly had an influence on the game despite the heavy defeat. He will be looked upon to lead the way for his side again this week.
Continued positive efforts from Daniel Annetta, Ethan Lowe and Harry Sinclair will also put the Saints in good stead ahead of what looms as a must win-clash.
For Panton Hill, the momentum from their thrilling five-point win in Round 2 couldn’t be translated in their trip to Whatmough Park last Saturday.
The Redbacks trailed by as much as 56 points early in the final term before pegging the deficit back to make it a respectable 22-point margin.
Riley Livingstone kicked four goals on the weekend and having kicked six majors in his previous two games, he could be the key to Panton Hill kicking a winning score against the Saints.
If they are to end the week 2-2, Simon Amore will be hoping to get complete efforts from the Parks brothers in Oliver, Nick and Sam as well as Giulian Fable, who was the side’s best player in the defeat to the Burra.
Sitting outside the top-five with just a single win to their name, Thomastown will be out to join the rest of the pack and scalp a win over an in-form Whittlesea outfit at Main Street Recreation Reserve.
It’s been an ‘almost’ start to the season for the Bears. Having prevailed in their opening round match against Northcote Park, Thomastown have shown glimpses of their best in tough fixtures against Diamond Creek and South Morang throughout the last fortnight but have been unable to produce a four-quarter effort.
While it doesn’t get easier for them this week when they face the unbeaten Eagles, David Folino and Sashe Spiroski will be hoping the learnings taken out of their previous two defeats can help turn their form around.
If they are to do so, they will need their leaders in Anthony Capeci, Jarryd Coulson and Michael Tang to maintain their consistent starts to the season.
They will also expect to finish games off with a bit more authority, having scored just 5.11 in final quarters in 2024. If they are still in the hunt with the Eagles by the final change, a more ferocious Bears outfit will give them the best chance of causing an upset.
But Garry Ramsay’s men have been on another level since their drop to Division 2, having won their opening three matches of the season by an average of 54 points.
Their dominance being highlighted best by their second half against Watsonia last week, where they kicked 12 of 13 goals to score a massive victory.
The side haven’t been shy of contributors, though it’s hard to look past Xavier Dimasi’s start to the season. His ball winning ability in the middle is having a massive impact on his side’s triumphs and a similar performance on Saturday will make it hard to see the Eagles finish as anything but winners.
Coming off back-to-back victories for the first time in over a year, Lower Plenty will look to extend their winning run and cause an upset on the way, when they play St Mary’s at Montmorency Park South Oval.
There’s plenty of optimism coming out of the Bear cave, and why not, with Travis Stephens’ side matching the winning tally they produced in 2023 in a sixth of the time.
Their most recent victory over Northcote Park was their most impressive performance of the season and their largest winning margin since Round 13, 2022.
The triumph was a collective effort from the Bears, with Patrick Flynn and Tyler Wallace leading the way with some outstanding contributions. Captain Jordan Sacco has also featured in his side’s best in all three matches, continuing on from his best and fairest winning form in 2023.
But they will face a tough test this weekend when they tackle a St Mary’s side who looked back to their best for three quarters in their 22-point victory over Panton Hill in Round 3.
Fabian Carelli’s side continue to improve, with their star forward Jeremiah Antypas leading the charge. He kicked his second four-goal haul for the season in last week’s win and now leads the Coaches MVP leaderboard with 16 votes in his three matches. He will again be key to a big triumph for St Mary’s.
The Burra won both meetings with the Bears last year in convincing fashion, but as they come into this clash with some form, Lower Plenty could push their Saturday opponents to its limits.
It’s been a tough start to the season for Northcote Park who are yet to register a victory in 2024, and it’s set to get more difficult this weekend when they face ladder leaders Diamond Creek on Saturday night at Coventry Oval.
The Cougars were unable to match it with Lower Plenty at home last week, conceding 31 scoring shots to suffer their third straight defeat.
Five of the side’s 10 goals for the match came from skipper Matthew Perry, with his move forward creating an extra scoring option for his team. It may be required again if they’re to keep up with one of the highest scoring teams in the competition.
Jordan Perry and Jonathan Naddaf have also had promising starts to the 2024 campaign and will be looked upon to lead their side to an unlikely triumph, particularly with Daniel Tallariti and Matthew D’Angelo set to miss the next three and two games respectively due to suspension.
Having fallen short of promotion in 2023, it appears in the early stages of this campaign that 2024 is the year for the Creekers go all the way, having been in unstoppable form in their opening three matches.
Their defence was first class again on the weekend during their 93-point win over Laurimar, keeping the Power to just 34 total points, it’s the 20th time in their last 24 games that they have held a side to under 60 points in a match.
A big reason for Diamond Creek continuing to possess this impressive trait is 2023 Team of the Year defender Nathan Searl, who’s efforts in defensive 50 ensure his side always maintains control of the contest.
The last game these two sides played at Coventry Oval ended in Andrew Tranquilli’s men keeping the Cougars to 2.10 on their way to a 62-point triumph.
