By Tash Gunawardana
Just three sides remain in each of the six Deakin University Women’s Divisions, as we jump past the first week of the finals and cast an eye towards a bumper Preliminary Final day.
Premier Division:
Mount Evelyn vs South Croydon: Mount Evelyn battles it out against South Croydon in the Premier Division Preliminary Final at HE Parker Reserve. The winner of this match will advance to a Grand Final with the Eastern Devils. Mount Evelyn ended the regular season with nine wins and in second place and South Croydon finished with eight wins and in third place. Mount Evelyn will be hoping to bounce back after last weekend’s thrashing at the hands of the Eastern Devils by 55 points. South Croydon knocked Vermont out of the finals last weekend by 13 points, so they will be looking to get their second consecutive finals win and gain a huge scalp against the favourites Mount Evelyn, who came into the finals in strong form.
Mount Evelyn – “We are really looking forward to this week after having some great hit outs with South during the year,” Mount Evelyn Senior Coach Steve Varley said. “They played a good brand of football last week against Vermont so we will need to step it up a gear if we are going to get another crack at the Devils. A few important ins this week should give us a boost, but it will take all 24 to get the job done.”
South Croydon – “Great to get a win in a very competitive game with Vermont last week and extend our year another week,” South Croydon Senior Coach Simon Hammersley said.
“We will need to be at our absolute best this week to get a win against Mount Evelyn. Our sides play a contrasting style of footy, so it should be an intriguing watch to see if either can get any control of the game. It’s sure to be another super contest of women’s footy.”
Tip: Mount Evelyn
Premier B:
Whitehorse vs The Basin: Whitehorse and the Basin will clash at Quambee Reserve in the Premier B Preliminary Final with the winner to play Donvale in the Grand Final next Saturday afternoon. Expect Whitehorse to come out and play some blistering footy as they look to prove they’re worth their Minor Premiers title. The Basin snuck through in a tight affair against local rivals Boronia and will head into this one with a major underdog tag, despite the firepower of captain Julia Baker.
The Basin – “Looking forward to this weekend’s final against Whitehorse. We’ve had some close matches this season and Saturday will be no different. We will be looking to hit the scoreboard more this weekend after a low scoring affair against Boronia on Sunday.” Said the skipper, Baker.
Tip: Whitehorse
Division One Finals:
Rowville vs North Ringwood: After being undefeated for the home and away season, Rowville went down in week one of the finals to Park Orchards by one point. Rowville will be heavy favourites to win but do not count out North Ringwood, a side that is coming off finals win last weekend. North Ringwood will have a pep in their step after progressing to Preliminary final weekend, but they will need to take their game to the next level if they are to overcome the might of Rowville, a side that have beaten them both times this season with relative ease.
Rowville – “Going to be a tough encounter,” Rowville Senior Coach Leann Gill said. “North Ringwood are coming in with momentum and we are wanting to avenge last week’s result. Both teams have earned the opportunity to play finals and we have the utmost respect for North Ringwood.”
North Ringwood – “Rowville has been the standout team all season so we know that we will head into the game as the underdogs,” North Ringwood Senior Coach Jules Hanson said. “We also know that we will have a crack and we won’t die wondering. We can’t wait for the contest.”
Division Two Finals:
East Ringwood vs Surrey Park: East Ringwood tackles Surrey Park in the Division Two Preliminary Final at Quambee Reserve. In week one of the finals, East Ringwood went down to Knox by two points and Surrey Park knocked Kilsyth out of the finals by 21 points in an inaccurate affair at Silvan.
Surrey Park will be hoping that they can continue their finals winning momentum against East Ringwood and if they can then they will be able to progress through to the big dance next Saturday, but given East Ringwood and Knox were a cut above throughout the Home and Away season the Panthers will need to produce their best performance of the season.
East Ringwood – “We’re keen to bounce back after a loss and we know Surrey Park will be ready for us,” East Ringwood Senior Coach Adrian Fittolani said. “We got through pretty unscathed, so we’ll be selecting a very competitive side, hoping for a spot in the Grand Final.”
Division Three Finals:
Croydon North MLOC vs Coldstream: Croydon North MLOC and Coldstream fight it out in the Division Three Preliminary Final at Quambee Reserve, with the KangaRams coming off a loss to East Burwood and the Cougars buoyed by a tight win over Mitcham on Sunday.
Croydon North MLOC did not play the way they would have hoped in the first week of the finals against East Burwood so they will be keen to make amends for it this weekend and then they can give themselves the best chance to have a crack again at the Rams, whilst Coldstream will be looking to repeat their strong defensive effort from last weekend, where they kept Mitcham to just two behinds.
Croydon North MLOC – “Our group is looking forward to this contest and we will be working extremely hard to get the result we need,” Coach John Hayhurst said. “Last week’s 21-point loss was disappointing to one and all within our team. We have identified several areas we need to address to perform to our best. We expect a tough encounter this week against Coldstream. This is what we need to get us back on track.”
Division Four Finals:
Eastern Devils Black vs SBL Wolves Teal: With a place in next weekend’s Division Four Grand Final up for the taking, expect the clash between the Eastern Devils Black and SBL Wolves Teal to be a belter at HE Parker Reserve. The Eastern Devils Black were brought back to earth last weekend against Vermont Gold as they only managed two goals for the match and Vermont Gold will simply a class above. SBL Wolves Teal will have strong momentum this weekend after they were able to defeat South Croydon Red by 18 points and end their season, after only jumping into the top four in the last round of the Home and Away season.
SBL Wolves Teal won last weekend’s game based off defence as they kept South Croydon Red to one goal for the first three quarters.
Tip: SBL Wolves Teal