EDFL round 9 preview

By Ken Moore
NAR Nar Goon coach Pat Henwood has a lot of faith in his youngsters and it will be interesting to see how they respond to last week’s drubbing by Longwarry. With three wins apiece there is plenty at stake when the Goon hosts Poowong at home this Saturday, as the loser is likely to find itself three games out of the top six. Poowong gave plenty of cheek last week against Cora Lynn and should have too much overall strength for the Goon youngsters, despite the likelihood that its assistant coach Rohan Best will miss with a hamstring injury.
Cora Lynn will host Buln Buln. The Cobras took a long time to shake off Poowong last week and it is likely to have similar difficulty with Buln Buln. The Lyrebirds never say die, which was typified by their efforts last week that whittling down a 56point threequartertime margin against Catani to only 24 points midway through the last term. Matthew Gooden has given his teammates a good attacking option this season, however Cora Lynn have forwards Jeremy Duiker, Jason Hall and Dave Barrie in good form and should get the four match points.
Catani will welcome Kooweerup to Catani Recreation Reserve. Both teams come into the game encouraged by strong victories last week that appeared to have turned their seasons around. The result will be largely decided by the battle in the midfield and the likely matchup between the wily veterans Paul Alger and Peter Doll should be worth the gate entry alone. Catani will miss Michael Stockx, who suffered a knee injury last week, but plucky halfback Ben Maroney should return. After a horror run with injury, Kooweerup came through last week’s game injuryfree and talls Matt Cameron and Adam Biszko will be better for the run. Catani at home is a tough proposition and I’ll tip it to get the points narrowly.
Everything appears to be stacked in Nyora’s favour when it hosts Warragul Industrials. The Dusties put in a fine effort last week but it is hard to see it staying with the Saints for any substantial time. Warragul will not get its hands on the ball in the midfield to be a threat. Nyora by 60 points.
NilmaDarnum, after a few improved performances in recent week’s will fancy its chances this week when fellow struggler NeerimNeerim South pays a visit. If the Bombers can get sidelined captain Adrian Carr back they might just have an outside chance. The Cats are a far better team than their lowly position suggests and, with the firepower of Paul Whelan, Damian Rhind, Andrew Herd and youngster Michael Urie, who returned to the seniors last week after breaking his arm earlier in the season it should open its winning account.
Ellinbank has mixed its form and will be out to get its season back on track when it meets Lang Lang. Aside from last week’s victory over NilmaDarnum, the Tigers have been in a slump. Ellinbank should win but, if the likes of Bill Harvey and Jason Harwood do not play again this week, it will not get its own way. The Bankers by around 20 points.
A big crowd is expected on Sunday when Bunyip meet Longwarry. Longwarry has done little wrong this season and has no real strengths and weaknesses, which is what makes it so hard to match up on. Bunyip has slipped under the radar in recent weeks and quietly moved into third place. Unfortunately the Bulldogs have sustained a run of injuries in recent weeks that is likely to see Ryan Ablett (hamstring), Adrian Bray (knee), John Perry (wrist) and Daniel Hagen (knee) all miss and their absence is likely to allow Longwarry to get the points, but it won’t be without a good deal of resistance from Ben Proctor’s boys, who are displaying a harder edge to their football this season. Bunyip upset Longwarry in the corresponding Sunday fixture last season but I can’t see it repeating the dose this weekend.