at Nar Nar Goon on Sunday
Garfield: The Stars’ leadership group. Players such as Andy Soumilas, Shaun Pickering, Ben Marsh, Brent Macfarlane, Ryan Munro, Matt Cunningham and Jake Hower know how important it is to win early games. Expect big games from them all.
Moe: Moe is a nononsense side that will believe it has a big chance of beating Garfield, regardless of the venue. It has goodquality, mobile smalls like Chris Smogavec and Chris Hancock who create scoring opportunities for its key forwards.
Garfield: Brent Macfarlane has proven to be a great defender who relies on his athleticism to negate opponents and wear them down. His dash from back line and pinpoint delivery set up many attacking moves last weekend. His performance is a key to the Stars’ chances.
Moe: Jason Shields is the key up forward for Moe. A former coach of the club, he is a very classy and knows where the goals are, given the opportunity. Shields booted four of his team’s 11 goals against Sale and is capable of leading his team to victory.
Garfield: Many players had an interrupted preseason and it showed in the second half of the game against Maffra. Can Garfield improve enough to run out the match and win on the big Nar Nar Goon ground?
Moe: With a perceived edge in fitness over its rival, will experienced Moe coach Lachlan Sim be able to exploit the Stars and keep running against the hardhitting Garfield midfield?
Garfield: Mal McKenna. He looked ready to fire last week and, while the Stars can win when he does not play well, they are almost assured of victory when he does. McKenna has played some of his best football at Nar Nar Goon and, if he kicks a bag of goals, the Stars should get the four points.
Moe: Dean Caldow. The Lions’ assistant coach has had a good start to the season and is an important onfield leader. He has the ability to unite his side in defence and is still dangerous when running forward. Moe players follow his example and have been topnotch to date.
