Round 2 of the Eastern Football Netball League Women’s competition is upon us, so to be up to date read Tash Gunawardana’s Weekend Preview!
Premier Division:
Mount Evelyn vs South Croydon: Mount Evelyn and South Croydon will both have immense confidence when they play each other on Saturday morning at Mt Evelyn Reserve after both recorded massive wins in round one.
Expect a high scoring and tough contest. Mount Evelyn will win in a tight one, only because they have the home ground advantage. Mount Evelyn will need to have a plan in place to stop damaging South Croydon forwards Tanikka Martin (five goals) and Taylah Black (four goals).
Tip: Mount Evelyn
Vermont vs SBL Wolves: Vermont and SBL Wolves will both be eyeing off their first wins of 2022 in round two at Vermont Recreation Reserve. Both sides loss by 60+ points and they will be hoping that they can turn their fortunes around in round two. The key round one takeaway for Vermont and SBL Wolves is that they both struggled to score and stop the opposition onslaught of goals.
Vermont: Vermont will be keen to get on the winners list against SBL Wolves in front of their home faithful.
Inside Word: “After our disappointing start against the Devils, our girls are keen to bounce back against SBL,” Senior Coach Tim Da Silveira said. “We don’t know a lot about them, but certainly won’t be underestimating them.”
SBL Wolves: SBL Wolves will look to kickstart their season on Saturday and get off the bottom of the ladder.
Tip: Vermont
Premier B Women’s:
Donvale vs Eastern Devils: Eastern Devils tackle Donvale away at Donvale Reserve. Both teams registered wins in the opening round and will be hopeful they can win for the second consecutive week. Donvale currently sit atop in Premier B Women’s and with this match being played at their home ground, they should be confident, but they should not underestimate the Eastern Devils as they won by 68-points in round one.
Donvale: Donvale kicked off their 2022 season with a win and special mention goes to Jasmine D’Amato who on fire with five goals. It was a physical game against Whitehorse and Donvale are keen for another challenge against fellow round one winner the Eastern Devils.
Inside Word: “It was a great team effort to get the win on the weekend,” Senior Coach Stephen Latino continued. “Coming off a very physical game against Whitehorse we’re looking to test our strengths in the crossover game this Saturday. As a group we were really pleased with our round 1 performance but know we have areas to work on as we progress through the season. The players are all keen to get back out on the home deck for the first time this year and to see how we match up against the Eastern Devils.”
Eastern Devils: Eastern Devils were superb in their first match in EFNL Women’s Premier Division. They will play in its first crossover game against fellow undefeated side Donvale, will their perfect start in the EFNL women’s competition continue?
Inside Word: “First crossover game off the season against Donvale who also won round one,” Senior Coach Jason Cridland continued. “We are pumped up and want the momentum of back-to-back wins.”
Tip: Eastern Devils
Boronia vs Whitehorse Pioneers: Boronia hosts Whitehorse Pioneers at Tormore Reserve. Boronia would be confident that they could get the job done against Whitehorse, after they won by eight points over one of the premier teams in the competition The Basin. However, they should not underestimate Whitehorse as they will be eager to record their first win of the season.
Boronia: Boronia will be hoping that Amanda Davidson, Rachael Slater, and Rebecca McMahon (two goals each) have their kicking boots on again like in round one as they combined with six goals.
Inside Word: “We were pleased with our performance in Round 1 after a long pre-season and will take some confidence that we can be competitive in a strong division.” Senior Coach Scott Nicholas said. “Each game is going to get tougher from here, so we aren’t getting too ahead of ourselves. Whitehorse is an experienced and very talented side, so we’re excited for the challenge!”
Whitehorse: Whitehorse’s defence will need to stop Boronia’s three key forwards if they are any chance of winning in enemy territory and hope that Morgan Khan has another forward who shares the goal kicking load. If Khan is the only scoring option up forward again, then the result for Whitehorse will be the same so let’s hope Whitehorse has more scoring avenues to goal in round two.
Tip: Boronia
Ferntree Gully vs The Basin: Ferntree Gully come up against The Basin at Wally Tew Reserve. Both teams will be looking to get on the board in 2022, which team will secure their first win?
Ferntree Gully: Ferntree Gully had a disappointing day on the park in round one, only managing three goals and they will hope this low scoring does not continue in round two.
Inside Word: “We’re looking forward to taking on The Basin at home this week for our first game against a fellow Premier B team for the year,” Senior Coach Tim Cavanagh said. “They were a tough challenge last year and we’re sure they will be again, but our girls are keen to put on a strong performance on our home deck and bring home the four points to kick start our year.”
The Basin: The Basin had a surprise loss in round one as they had a lacklustre first half and were unable to get back into the game after this. They hope that they can start well in round two.
Inside Word: “After a disappointing first half against Boronia we will be looking to play four quarters of footy this week against FTG,” Julia Baker continued. “We know that FTG are a strong unit so we will need to match that with our tackling pressure and movement around contests in order to put our best foot forward on Saturday.”
Tip: The Basin
DIVISION ONE:
North Ringwood vs Chirnside Park: North Ringwood hosts Chirnside Park at Quambee Reserve. North Ringwood did not register a round one win, so Chirnside Park will need to be on their guard as North Ringwood will come out firing on their home deck to try pull of their first win of the season.
Chirnside Park: Chirnside Park had a first-round win and will look to remain undefeated.
Inside Word: “Solid start by the girls against Blackburn but always room for improvement, looking forward to taking on North Ringwood this Saturday,” Chirnside Coach Dave Stewart said.
Tip: Chirnside Park
Beaconsfield vs Blackburn: Blackburn travels to play Beaconsfield at Holm Park Reserve on Saturday morning. Both teams will be eyeing off their first wins of the season, so expect a tight contest from start to finish.
Beaconsfield: It was a decent round one from Beaconsfield in their first EFNL women’s game.
Inside Word: “Round 1 done and dusted, great learning opportunity for the ladies to go away and keep learning the skills and the craft of footy,” Senior Coach Troy Robinson said. “Round 2 vs Blackburn this week at Holm Park allows the ladies to keep building as a team whilst also enjoying the game.”
Blackburn: Blackburn could not get the win at home, so they will hope they can win away.
Inside Word: “This week we’ll continue to play around with our player’s positions on field,” Senior Coach Jules Hay continued. “We showed some promising signs last game – I thought our fundamentals were good and our positive mindsets entering the game. We’ll continue to build on our ball movement patterns and getting the ball into our 50. We trained well last night and not too many have pulled up that sore from round 1, which shows our fitness levels were reasonably good. We have 1 out this week – Rachel Nisbet who obtained a fractured arm in Round 1. We’re hoping to have Erin Woodford back from U18 nationals also.”
Tip: Beaconsfield
Ringwood vs Rowville: Ringwood had the bye in the opening round, so will look to kickstart its season at home with a victory over huge round one winners Rowville at Jubilee Park.
Rowville: Rowville will look to get their second consecutive victory on the board, and they will head into the match as heavy favourites after they dismantled North Ringwood by 62-points.
Ringwood: It is hard to know what to expect from Ringwood, so all we can is expect the unexpected.
Tip: Rowville
Bye: Park Orchards
DIVISION TWO:
East Ringwood vs Montrose: East Ringwood hosts Montrose at East Ringwood Reserve as they look to go undefeated in Division Two.
Montrose: Montrose were no match for Knox in the opening round and they are expecting for another major challenge in round two.
Inside Word: “A tough start to the season against a highly skilled Knox outfit – it has given our Montrose women many things to work on – but we were pleased with some of the passages of play we put together,” Senior Coach Shilette Baker continued. “With very few inside 40’s, we were happy that we took some of those opportunities when they were presented.
We have some players returning for Round 2 that were not available last week, so they should enjoy their first hit out for the season. We are anticipating another tough match against East Ringwood who have come down a division from last year. The things our team need to improve on are the contested ball and moving more freely with support around the ground. We are looking forward to the next challenge.”
Tip: East Ringwood
Knox vs Surrey Park: It is an early top of the table clash between Knox and Surrey Park at Knox Gardens Reserve. Expect a high quality and high scoring contest as both teams scored 80+ points in round one.
Knox: Knox scored 12 goals in the opening round, and they had huge scoring weapons and Surrey Park will need to stop this if they are any chance of going 2-0.
Inside Word: “Our girls had a good win last weekend, and I was very impressed with how we shared the footy around, but it’s only 1 game and we definitely have more improvement in us,” Senior Coach Peter Jordan continued. “We have Surrey Park this week and the results indicate they have really improved on last year, noticing they won easily against a side many had as the competition favourite. We’re expecting a tough contest and if we continue with our development by improving once again, I’ll be happy whatever the result is.”
Surrey Park: Surrey Park will be hoping from more of the same from Chloe Mansfield and Ellie Brennan who kicked two goals apiece.
Tip: Knox
Kilsyth vs Heathmont: Heathmont will play away against Kilsyth at Pinks Reserve. Both teams will be hoping they can score more than a goal like in round one. It was a struggle for both teams to score.
Kilsyth: Kilsyth are playing on their home ground so they will head in as slight favourites.
Inside Word: “After a disappointing round 1 we’re looking to bounce back against Heathmont,” Senior Coach Clint Martin said. “The girls have reflected on their past performance and are all looking to improve. We know Heathmont are a quality team, but we look forward to the challenge.”
Heathmont: Heathmont will hope their forwards are able to score goals otherwise another loss will eventuate.
Tip: Kilsyth
DIVISION THREE:
Coldstream vs Nunawading: Coldstream will look to register its first win of the season when they host Nunawading at Coldstream Reserve.
Coldstream: Coldstream will take a lot of learnings out of round one and hope this will see them in good stead for this weekend.
Inside Word: “After a big loss to a much stronger East Burwood our focus quickly moves onto this week,” Senior Coach Ben Gardner said. “We believe we’ve improved heaps since last year and looking forward seeing what we can bring in round 2.”
Nunawading: Nunawading had the round one bye so it’s hard to know how they’ll come out to play.
Tip: Coldstream
Mooroolbark vs Fairpark: Mooroolbark will face off against Fairpark at Heights Reserve on Saturday Morning.
Mooroolbark: Mooroolbark will be on the quest to score more in round two as they only were able to score 1.3 in the opening round.
Inside Word: “It was great for our girls to get their first game under their belt,” Senior Coach Domenic Ciancio said. “There were many positives to come out of our game and we will remain focussed on building a competitive unit from week to week.”
Fairpark: Fairpark will also be looking to get on the winners list after a discouraging performance against Croydon North, where they were only able to kick two goals.
Tip: Mooroolbark
Croydon North MLOC vs East Burwood: Croydon North MLOC are looking to remain undefeated in Division Three with another massive victory over East Burwood at Hughes Park. Expect a high scoring outing down at Croydon between two sides who have potent forward lines. Expect both defences will be kept on their toes from the onset in this contest.
Croydon North MLOC: Croydon North MLOC secured a 54-point win over Fairpark in the opening round, and they will hope that Gabrielle Zappia can kick another bag of five goals in front of their home crowd.
East Burwood: East Burwood were also huge round one winners, and they will be hoping from more of the same from damaging forward Cecilia Baldassare who booted through seven majors.
Tip: Croydon North MLOC
Mitcham: Bye
DIVISION FOUR:
Boronia Gold vs Eastern Devils Black: Boronia Gold takes on Eastern Devils Black at their home ground Tormore Reserve. Boronia Gold will need to bring their best if they are any chance of toppling Eastern Devils Black as Eastern Devils Black recorded an impressive 40-point win over Vermont Gold in round one.
Boronia Gold: Boronia Gold will be eyeing off their first win of the season, but they will need to score more than two goals after a low scoring opening round from them. Boronia Gold will have their work cut out as Eastern Devils Black have strengths all over the ground.
Inside Word: “After a practice match against Eastern Devils we knew we were going to have to work hard around the field to slow them down,” Coach Candyce Wright said. “We are excited with the return of past players and new players to the club this round. Keep it simple and have fun will be the key message going into Saturday’s game.”
Eastern Devils Black: Eastern Devils Black were great in round one, they won big, but it could have been an even bigger win if they kicked accurately as they registered 7.15.
Tip: Eastern Devils Black
The Basin Green vs South Croydon Red: South Croydon Red travels to Batterham Reserve to play The Basin Green on Saturday morning.
The Basin Green: What a win it was from The Basin Green first up and they will hope they can replicate this performance at home.
Inside Word: “After a big win down at The Cave last Saturday, our Reserves girls are feeling confident and enthusiastic about facing South Croydon this weekend,” Coach Kirsty McConnell said. “We will be looking to capitalise on our performance from last week by ensuring we continue to stick to our structures, and bring the big, big energy. We know they are a club who has been very successful with recruitment over the break which is absolutely fantastic for women’s footy, and we’re incredibly excited & up for the challenge.”
South Croydon Red: South Croydon Red are excited about the challenge this round and getting hopefully win number two on the board.
Inside Word: “It was good to have football back and after a long preseason the girls were excited about the challenge of a new season,” Coach Declan Burke said. “We travelled up to South Belgrave to face SBL Wolves for the first time. It was a hard-fought contest with no team able to take complete control of the game. With scores level at the final break, we were able to break away in the final term and come away with a 2-goal win. We’re looking forward to another challenge this weekend in the Basin.”
Tip: The Basin Green
Vermont Gold vs SBL Wolves Teal: SBL Wolves will face Vermont Gold away at Vermont Recreation Reserve. Vermont Gold and SBL Wolves are in search of their first win of 2022 so expect a tough affair from the start of the match.
Vermont: Vermont only managed two goals from a first round they would like to hope does not happen again. They will need more scoring avenues to goal and if they fix this up, they will have a better chance of winning more games in future.
Inside Word: “Our development side although soundly beaten, showed a lot of good signs,” Senior Coach Tim Da Silveria said. “We hope to see improvement in a very inexperienced side and will surprise teams along the way!”
SBL Wolves Teal: SBL Wolves were in the game against South Croydon Red going down by just 12 points, so they will be hoping they can tough it out again.
Tip: SBL Wolves Teal