In this week’s Eastland In and Under column, Media Manager Ryan Long gives you his key takeaways from the weekend gone.
Vermont’s Super Sunday
With three standalone games on Sunday, the Vermont Football Club won all three matches at home in what turned out to be a very happy Sunday for the Eagles.
The most impressive win of the three came at 2:20 PM, when the senior side took down Rowville by 47 points.
The Eagles welcomed back former Chandler medallist Lachie Johns, from an overseas trip. No signs of Jet Lag were evident as he put through one of the opening two goals of the match.
While the game was tight early in the second quarter, Adrian Kalcovski took over. Everything he touched turned into gold, four goals from four kicks as the Eagles turned it on with seven majors. By the end of the match, he finished with six goals, equalling his season-best high.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, they lost Nik Schoenmakers in the second quarter to a serious leg injury. The side fought back in the third quarter to get the margin within four goals but the Eagles would pile on the goals late to run away very comfortable winners on their home deck.
It’s a huge statement win for a Vermont side that many, including myself, predicted would finish in the bottom four of the Premier Division Ladder. Their fixture doesn’t get any easier, they still have the Lions twice, Roos, Tigers and Bulls to come in their remaining seven weeks.
Gary Ayres’s men deliver
Most certainly a win to remember for the Demons, a six-point win over Mitcham with their two leading goalkickers sitting on the sidelines.
Gary Ayres’s men were fired up from the first bounce, dominating the first quarter, kicking six goals to two. Taj Heap started on fire, with ten disposals in the first quarter while the big man, Ryan Garthwaite combined with Daniel Chamberlain for four first-quarter majors. Garthwaite, would turn out to be the key difference in the end, his four goals in a low-scoring tight game were vital for the Demons in their win.
With seven changes heading into the side, Gary Ayres was very impressed with his side’s performance across the afternoon. Challenged in the second half, their back six held up under pressure, the Tigers having 33 Inside 50’s to 18 after Half Time. The six-point win for the Demons gives them further breathing space from the fourth spot on the ladder.
For the Tigers, they’ll be rueing a first quarter that they gave up six goals to the Demons, making it difficult to get back into the game. Tom Lovell continued his impressive 2023 season with yet another big performance.
Alongside Danny Baglava, the two were dominant in ruck battles with the more inexperienced Montrose side. Lovell finished with 24 disposals, 49 hit outs and 11 clearances.
Mitcham won’t be discouraged by the loss, having shown plenty in three of the four quarters. But their losing streak to Montrose continues, now five losses on the trot to the Demons.
With the two sides a very strong chance to play each other in the first week of the finals, the Tigers will need to snap that streak if they’re to go on and challenge for a premiership this September.
Premiership Favourites?
It’s Round Twelve and there may be two very clear premiership favourites in Divisions One and Two.
South Belgrave and Boronia’s starts to the seasons have cemented both sides as clear front runners for their divisions.
Starting with the Saints in Division One, an incredible 12 in a row after last year’s promotion. Extending that back into 2022, it’s now a 16-game win streak.
Despite a couple of close calls, South Belgrave have found a way to still take the four points in games they haven’t been at full strength. It was well noted when Taylor Garner, Damian Garner and Tim Smith were missing games but that’s only the start of it. Black, Costa, Kidd, Castledine and Connelly have all spent at least a month’s worth of games on the sidelines.
At full strength, it’s hard to see many opposition defences that match up well enough to stop their tall timber up forward. Finals at Tormore Reserve might however not suit them as well as Walker Park did in the 2022 Finals Series.
South Belgrave currently sits three games and percentage ahead of Mitcham in second place, so the Saints already have one hand on the Minor Premiership and a week off come August 19th.
In Division Two, Boronia has had a similar run this year, with eleven wins from twelve games. The Hawks have knocked off each of the other premiership contenders at least once, with their only loss coming to a Ringwood side that is looking unlikely to play finals.
Similar to the Saints, the Hawks have managed to find a way to win when not playing at their best. However, their form in the last month has been exceptional where they’ve been able to put away sides by heavy margins. Four big wins in a row to Upper Gully, Mulgrave, The Basin and Heathmont were followed by a comfortable 31-point win over the Waverley Blues.
Their stars are all finding consistent form too, Mitch Mellis has been listed as best on ground in the last three weeks, now averaging over 30 disposals per game.
He’s been well assisted by experienced stars such as the Hannons, Collins and White. Ex-Upper Ferntree Gully star Max Brasher has also fitted into the line-up with ease, the second-highest disposal-getter in the division, behind Templestowe’s Carl Giovannini.
Again, finals are a whole other ball game, but they’ll certainly head into September as the hunted.
Elsewhere, the Roos sit a game clear on top in Premier Division, but anyone in that top six is capable of winning the flag on their day. Down in Division Three, it’s been a two-horse race for quite some time, the Magpies and Eagles have both defeated each other once thus far. It would take a couple of big finals upsets to see a Silvan, Oakleigh District or potentially Fairpark to make a post-season run at a flag.
Kilsyth is probably the next obvious premiership favourite for a division. If they continue to keep their best 22 on the park, they’ll be very tough to knock off. Hard to see the Cougars missing out on a Grand Final from here.