By Ken Moore
INTEREST this week will be focused on Moe’s home game against Morwell this Sunday and Drouin’s home clash with Garfield.
After their recently improved form Garfield and Drouin, both former Western Division teams, are eyeing fifth position.
Leongatha is still in the race for fifth position but its form would need to improve dramatically.
Drouin hosts Garfield and the season could be over for the loser.
After victories over Moe and Morwell in successive weeks the Stars have definitely turned the corner and are beginning to play with their stellar 2004 form.
After halftime Drouin was not in the contest against Sale last week but it will match up far better against Garfield, a team it troubled last season with its pace and in round five this year beat by 63 points.
Garfield will miss youngster Zeke Hower, who is out for the season with a broken leg, and will keep a keen watch on 2004 Breheny Medallist Andy Soumilas, who rolled his ankle last week and may be in doubt.
Drouin is likely to be bolstered by the return of Travis Delarue and Travis Gardiner.
Garfield’s recent victories appear to have rekindled its enthusiasm for a contest and I’ll tip the Stars to win three on the trot and keep their finals hopes alive.
Warragul will travel down the highway to Traralgon.
The Gulls have shown significant improvement in the second half of the season and, despite their loss last week to Maffra, they were competitive for long periods.
Warragul’s big men Paul Wallin, Ash Green, Xavier Gargan, Paul McNulty and Bernie Jones have all impressed in recent weeks and may pose Traralgon problems given a dry day.
The Gulls will miss Gippsland Power squad member Joel Morgan, but the Maroons’ midfield brigade of Brad Smith, Tom McQualter, Leigh Cummins and Greg Morley should have too much polish for the young Gull onballers.
Since its shock round11 loss to Drouin, Traralgon appears to have stepped up a gear and can be expected to be far too strong for the Gulls.
Moe will welcome its close rival Morwell and, if the Lions lose, they face the possibility of missing the finals.
Morwell put in a shocker last week but on a positive note, key forwards John Read and Michael Mooney will return, along with defender Tony Armstrong.
Moe showed plenty of encouraging signs last week and finished its game against Traralgon well with a sevengoal last quarter to give it confidence, but if Morwell is a good side it should win.
Leongatha will have enjoyed last week’s bye, which gave the Parrots a chance to regroup after three consecutive losses.
They play Sale this week, but on recent form it is hard to see them being competitive for the entire match.
Sale easily disposed of Drouin last week and with six wins in a row it is looking most likely to give the mighty Maffra competition come finals time.
Sale was unluckily dismissed from the finals after a narrow loss to Leongatha in the first semifinal last season but is on track for at least the second week this season and should win comfortably.
Selections: Leongatha v SALE, Drouin v GARFIELD, TRARALGON v Warragul, Moe v MORWELL (Sunday).
