After the first month of MC Labour Division 2 action, all ten teams will look to build on their efforts, with some hoping to stay in the finals hunt while others planning to bank key wins to stay out of relegation trouble.
Several sides have shown their intent to play finals after just four weeks, with just four points separating first and seventh on the ladder, meaning wins will be crucial this weekend.
In what should be one of the games of the round, Lower Plenty do battle with Thomastown at Montmorency Park South Oval.
Since that round 1 loss to Watsonia, Lower Plenty have proven themselves to be the team to beat in season 2022, particularly after impressive wins over premiership contenders Eltham and more recently, Banyule.
In a convincing display, Thomas Blake, Darcy Barden and Alexander Alderton were the top performers in the winning effort over Banyule, with Tom Keys, Billy Barden and Joshua Turner all at the top of their game early into the 2022 season.
But sitting a game outside of the top four and looking to make it three consecutive wins, Thomastown will plan to make life difficult for the strong Lower Plenty outfit.
The Bears look to be firing on all cylinders with the Bears currently boasting the division’s leading goalkicker in Michael Tang and the Coaches MVP award leader in Lawrence Lopiccolo.
All eyes will be on the ruck battle with both Tim Martin and Jarryd Coulson looking to give their midfield as much first use as possible.
A win for Lower Plenty will make it three consecutive wins against top four sides, making it difficult a difficult case for Phil Plunkett’s men not to fall from top spot on the ladder any time soon, while a triumph for Thomastown would make the top two up for grabs.
Coming off their first loss of the season last week, Banyule will be looking to make amends when they take on Panton Hill at A.E Cracknell Reserve.
The Bears were without several key players when they went up against the in-form Lower Plenty last weekend, but the likes of Devin McDonald, Lachlan Turner and Michael Edwards all stood up despite the losing effort.
With Mitch Lovell, Liam Chambers, James Kayrooz and Michael Italia still to come in to line up, the Bears will be strong favourites to return to the winner’s list against an out of form Panton Hill.
The Redbacks will be eager to get their season back on track with an upset win over the Bears, as they enter this match coming off back-to-back defeats.
Panton Hill will take some confidence after going down to St Mary’s by just 18 points last week. The Redbacks did trail all day, but Nicholas and Samuel Parks showed their worth in the Redbacks side while Ethan Gorski also continued his good start to the year in black and red, kicking three goals in the defeat to the Burra
The Redbacks suffered a heavy loss to Banyule last time out but with a new look side this season, Simon Amore’s men will hope to cause an upset which, as we’ve seen already in this year in the competition, can happen.
In what should make for an intriguing fixture, St Mary’s take on Diamond Creek at Whatmough Park.
The Burra have shaken off a slow start to find themselves in third spot on the ladder with and they’ll be out to record their fourth win of the season this weekend.
Daniel Castagnini, Huon Macgibbon and Nicholas Gedge will be ones to watch, with the trio coming off impressive performances last week.
The bright start to the season has also been made impressive by the lack of star personel they’ve had at their disposal in the first few week’s of the 2022 campaign, mainly Myles Guldon, Jake Dambrauskas and Dillan Ronalds.
Despite a tough start fixture wise to the season, the Creekers have displayed some positive signs after a month of football. Having recorded a 121-point win over Epping in round 4, the Creekers will come into this match with plenty of momentum.
Jai Norman has been in fine form for Andrew Tranquilli’s side, having booted four goals in his past two games.
Both these side’s finished with a 7-5 record in the shortened 2021 season and despite the Creekers prevailing by 66 points in their only meeting last year, expect the Burra to put on a more spirited showing as they look to keep in touch with the top side’s of the competition.
Coming off the back of two massive losses, Epping will be hoping to avoid the same fate when they host Eltham.
It’s been a tough season for the Blues who after winning their opening game of the season, have struggled to re-capture the same form.
Though the Blues have fielded an almost entirely different outfit every round this season, regulars Zack Ferguson, Thomas Burnside and Leigh Judd were the shining lights in the 121-point loss to Diamond Creek over the weekend.
Meanwhile the Panthers will be coming into this fixture full of confidence, sitting second on the ladder and coming off a convincing 76-point win over Panton Hill.
Daniel Owen was superb up forward kicking eight goals while debutants Jason McCormick and Finnbar Maley were excellent, combining for nine coaches MVP votes over the weekend.
Eltham will look to get a winning streak going following their defeat to Lower Plenty a fortnight ago and this Saturday will be the perfect opportunity to kickstart it.
As the only side in the competition yet to get a win, the Fitzroy Stars will be sensing an opportunity to finally get off the mark when they face Watsonia at Sir Douglas Nicholls Oval.
The Stars have struggled for most of the season having lost by an average margin of 68 points across their first four games and last week, they were handed their second loss over 100 points of the season when they faced Thomastown.
Aaron Lynn, Ashely Hood and Jack Kesper have been shining lights in what has been a tough season with Nathan Lovett-Murray continuing to play an important on and off field role for the Stars.
Watsonia come into this game with a handy 2-2 record, however a 77-point defeat to Eltham last week will need to be quickly forgotten if they want to secure a victory this week.
Having spearheaded the Saints forward in the early part of the season, Kyle Wheatley was once again in good form in the heavy defeat, kicking four majors.
Barring other results, a win for Watsonia could see them jump from seventh to fifth and with a tough couple of weeks to come, the Saints will need to ensure they keep banking wins against sides beneath them.
If the Fitzroy Stars were to get up, they would potentially move off the bottom of the ladder thanks to percentage, and it would be a much needed confidence booster for Lionel Proctor’s side if they could achieve that.
